


In Sunshine or Shadow

by CiciWeezil



Series: A Different Fate [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Multi, Sirius Survives!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-05-27 10:04:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 50
Words: 107,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15022235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CiciWeezil/pseuds/CiciWeezil
Summary: What if Harry and his friends had never gone to the Department of Mysteries in The Order of the Phoenix? Perhaps things would have turned out a bit differently. This is the story of what might have happened if Harry had taken a different course of action.





	1. A Turn of Events

"Harry, will you just listen to me?"

Harry sighed and finally turned to look at his bushy-haired friend. Her dark eyes were fierce.

"Sirius is in trouble, Hermione." He said as he led the way back to the school. Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville joined them in the Entrance Hall.

"And there are a half-dozen people in this school with the ability to contact him." Hermione countered.

"And who do you suppose is actually going to believe me and see about him, eh? Dumbledore and McGonagall, maybe, but they're both gone."

"This is different, Harry. Besides, I think someone's already contacted Grimmauld Place."

The others stopped.

"Who? We haven't told anybody." Ron said.

"Yes, we have." Hermione said. "Remember 'He's got padfoot at the place where it's hidden'? You know, Snape isn't dim. I saw recognition in his eyes, like he knew what Harry meant. He knows who Padfoot is."

"She's got a point." Ginny agreed. "And the only way we'll know is if we find Snape."

"He's probably down in his dungeon." Ron said.

Harry had to agree with them. Snape did seem to have understood the message. But there was still one problem.

"Why would Snape care if Sirius is in danger, though? They hate each other." He argued as they headed down the stairs to the dungeon.

"Because Sirius knows quite a bit about the Order." Ginny said.

"Because Dumbledore'd be angry if he didn't." Ron said.

"Because it's not just about Sirius. It's about the whole wizarding world. Whatever their protecting is powerful enough for Voldemort to want it." Hermione said.

Neville and Luna said nothing, but Harry assumed they didn't completely understand what was going on.

As they neared Snape's office, they heard faint voices, but could not make out what they were saying.

"Who's he talking to?" Harry whispered.

"Let's find out." Hermione pushed Harry forward and they entered through the open door.

"Harry!" Cried a familiar voice, the owner of which proceeded to tackle Harry in a great bear hug.

"Sirius! You're alright?" Harry managed to say.

"'Course I am." Sirius assured him. He then stepped out of the way and they noticed the other two occupants of the room: Remus and Snape, the latter looking rather chagrined about his company.

"But what are you doing here?"

"Snape said you gave him a coded message after trying to use Umbridge's office to floo me." Sirius said. "Lucky you did, too. Dumbledore's led a team of Order members to the Department of Mysteries to protect the weapon."

"But what is the weapon?" Harry asked.

Sirius eyed him for a moment. "I have a feeling Dumbledore will be telling you all about it after this."

"So what do we do now?" Ron asked. "Wait and see what happens?"

"Well, I believe you lot have some explaining to do." Remus told them. "Professor Snape only told us what he knew, and that wasn't much. Let's go upstairs and find Professor McGonagall. She's just returned."

"Where was she, anyway?" Ron asked.

Everyone except for Snape went back upstairs to find Minerva McGonagall waiting for them in the Entrance Hall. She looked concerned but not particularly surprised, as though she'd already been briefed on what was happening.

"I've woken the other teachers. Everyone's on alert and standing guard around the school. With the exception of our High Inquisitor, however. I hope you six have a particularly good tale to explain her whereabouts, otherwise I'm going to have to take House points." The Deputy Headmistress said.

As always, it was impossible to tell whether she was joking or not. Either way, she led them to her office, where they each told their part in the night's events, tea and biscuits provided. Sirius, Remus, and McGonagall seemed to find Umbridge's fate quite amusing.

"Flitwick and I will retrieve her in the morning." She said with very little care.

Finally, Hermione explained why they went to see Snape and their arrival there ended the story.

Nobody spoke for a few minutes after, all of them turning the events over in their heads.

"I'd give him clothes, but he knows too much. Maybe he'll keel over if I scare him enough." Sirius said darkly.

"But Sirius!" Hermione cried. "Kreacher is-"

"Don't worry, Hermione." Remus interrupted. "Sirius will do nothing of the sort to Kreacher. He will, however, be ordering him to never leave Grimmauld Place unless he is specifically given a destination to go to."

Sirius crossed his arms but nodded. Hermione gave him a small glare, which he ignored.

At that moment, a light appeared in the window. A patronus flowed through the glass as though it weren't even there.

It spoke only six words in Moody's voice. "Battle over. Order won. None dead."

"Typical Mad-Eye. He's a man of few words." Sirius noted.

"A rather bothersome trait." McGonagall said. "If it weren't for my duties to the school I would go to the Ministry myself and find out what exactly happened."

"Voldemort tried to get the weapon, didn't he?" Harry asked, ignoring Ron's flinch at the name. "In the Department of Mysteries."

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "The battle did indeed take place in the Department of Mysteries, according to the message I received from Kingsley Shacklebolt. With the Death Eaters on the move, I had the teachers and faculty take up posts around the school, just in case they decided to attack the school."

"I suppose all we can do now is wait for someone to give us more information." Sirius said, sounding rather mature.

"If the battle is already over, then the Order must have had prior knowledge of the attack." Hermione surmised.

"Not to my knowledge." McGonagall told her. Sirius and Remus shook their heads.

"Maybe Dumbledore knew, and he just didn't tell anyone." Harry suggested.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Sirius agreed, receiving sharp looks from both McGonagall and Remus.

"Professor," Harry said. "Where were you today?"

Professor McGonagall looked for a moment as though she wouldn't answer him.

"I was at an Order meeting. I deeply regret leaving the school with Dumbledore gone. It is a mistake I shall not make again."

At that moment, a bright light poured into the window once more, and they watched as a jack rabbit patronus hopped through the glass.

"Tonks." They heard Remus say.

"Meet in Dumbledore's office in five. Bring Wolf, Dog, Scar, and friends." Tonks' voice said.

"Gee, I wonder who Scar is." Ron said sarcastically, nudging Harry, who self-consciously rubbed his scar. It was tingling a bit.

"Who did she expect to be listening in on that?" Sirius asked. "And she really needs to come up with better names."


	2. The Good News

"Cockroach Cluster." Professor McGonagall said, allowing them to make their way up to the Headmaster's office.

They climbed the staircase in a single-file line. Professor McGonagall was followed by Remus, Sirius, Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Behind Ron was Neville, then Ginny, with Luna bringing up the rear.

Three people already occupied the office. Tonks was seated across from the empty Headmaster's chair, looking annoyed. Bill was leaning on the desk, and Snape stood skulking in a corner, far from the clumsy auror and Weasley.

"I've sent the teachers back to bed. They were ready to fight if need be." Minerva informed them.

"And Umbridge?" Snape inquired.

"She'll be back in the morning." The Deputy Headmistress shrugged. "She had a run-in with some centaurs."

"Well, come on in! Don't just stand in the doorway." Tonks waved them in. "'Fraid Dumbledore won't be back 'til morning. He and Fudge have a lot to talk about."

Bill and McGonagall conjured up some chairs for everyone and arranged them in a circle. Snape reluctantly took a seat between Luna and McGonagall.

"So, I'm sure you all want to know what happened at the Department of Mysteries, yea?" Tonks, who sat between Remus and Bill, looked much happier than when they'd first entered.

"We'll tell you what we know, but Dumbledore's asked to explain a few things himself." Bill said.

"Alright, then, let's start at the beginning. I had just gotten home when I received Mad-Eye's message to go right back to the Ministry. I get there, and, of course, dash right down to the Department of Mysteries. Death Eaters and Order members everywhere, casting spells at one another. I join the fray, and some Ministry workers join us, too."

"Kingsley called for backup. We had every Order member that was off-mission, except for those here at Hogwarts, every Auror in the Ministry, and quite a few Ministry people that are sympathetic to our cause." Bill clarified.

"Anyways, so because of that, we outnumbered the Death Eaters. But then, oh, then, Dumbledore showed up, and we had it in the bag! It would've ended right then, but You-Know-Who himself appeared, and bloody hell! It was the duel of the century. Dumbledore vs. You-Know-Who!"

"Call him Voldemort, Tonks." McGonagall urged her.

"Oh, fine. So just at the peak of the battle, the Minister got there, and he saw You- okay, Voldemort, himself. Nearly pissed his trousers, I bet. Then, for some reason, Voldemort and his Death Eaters retreated. But not before we managed to capture two of them. You'll never guess who!"

"Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew." Bill said, earning a glare from Tonks, who evidently had wanted the others to guess.

"Pettigrew?!" Sirius and Remus gasped.

"You've caught him?" Hermione asked.

"He's in Auror hands now, and, with some pressuring from Dumbledore, Fudge has officially cleared Sirius of all suspicion. That'll be just one of the articles in the Prophet tomorrow." Bill explained. "We'll get tons of information from these two. They were both pretty high standing among the Death Eaters."

Sirius scoffed at this.

"Oh, come on, Sirius! You're free!" Tonks said cheerfully. "The Ministry's even going to compensate you for wrongful imprisonment, and for not giving you a trial. Do you know how many galleons twelve years of prison is equivalent to?"

"We've definitely got an advantage on the Dark side now." Bill said. "They haven't got the weapon, and we've got two of their members, both of whom understand the inner workings of the Death Eaters. They're both cowards, too. The Aurors will get information out of them easily. And Voldemort made a serious mistake revealing himself to the Minister. Now the whole wizarding community is on high alert."

"But we can't get carried away. We must continue to think strategically if we want to win this war." McGonagall reminded him. "If we let our guard down, lives could be lost."

Bill and Tonks both nodded.

"Now then, unless you have more information for us, I believe it is past time for everyone to get to bed." Said the Deputy Headmistress.

"We've got to get back to the Ministry, anyways. We just wanted to fill you in on what's happening." Tonks stood, glancing at Remus for a moment, whose eyes were trained on a frayed edge of his coat. Tonks' face fell slightly and she made towards the fireplace, followed by Bill.

"I'll inform the teachers in the morning, and the students. Tell Dumbledore there is no rush for his return. The school is in good hands." McGonagall told them.

"Will do." Tonks said quickly, grabbing some floo powder and disappearing into the flames.

"Is she alright?" Hermione asked.

"Erm… I think she's just…" Bill scratched the back of his head. "You'll have to ask her, I suppose." He then followed Tonks through the fire.

Harry noticed Sirius giving a sideways glance to a very guilty-looking Remus, and decided to ask his godfather about it later, among other things.

"I will personally escort you six back to your dormitories." McGonagall said. "Remus, you and Sirius can stay in the guest suite on the third floor. I trust you know where it is?"

The two Marauders smiled and nodded. Before they left, Sirius gave Harry a hug. When they pulled apart, his godfather was wiping away tears. Harry smiled at him, knowing exactly what could make the man cry. Remus gave them all a small smile, but seemed as eager to leave as Tonks.

Snape started to leave, but McGonagall stopped him.

"If you don't mind, will you escort Miss Lovegood to Ravenclaw Tower on your way back to the dungeons?" She asked.

"Very well." Snape conceded, eyeing Luna wearily, and led the Ravenclaw down the stairs. Harry smiled, suddenly realizing that, as the Potions professor, Snape had to teach Luna. The thought was entertaining.

"Then that just leaves you five." McGonagall said, making them all feel as though they were all about to lose a hundred house points each. Harry wondered if it was possible to go into the negative. "Off we go. I'm sure you're all exhausted. I'll take you back to your dorm, and there'd better not be any nighttime wanderings from any of you, understand?"

They all nodded, and followed her out of the Headmaster's office.

Back in the Common Room, which was empty now, the five of them sat down in front of the fireplace to discuss the night's happenings.

"So, all this year, a group called the Order of the Phoenix has been protecting some powerful weapon from You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters." Neville summarized.

The others had just explained to him the meaning of everything that had happened.

"Exactly." Hermione said.

"I wonder what's going to happen now?" Ginny thought aloud.

"I'm not sure." Harry said. "But my scar is still tingling. I can feel his anger, but it's not as strong as before. It's like… something's blocking my connection to him."

"Do you think you may be doing it, Harry?" Hermione suggested. "Using Occlumency without even knowing it?"

"Maybe. But it could just as easily be Voldemort using Occlumency." Harry said. "I'll ask Dumbledore about it. I've got tons of questions for him."

"I'm sure he has answers to all of them." Hermione assured him. "But I'm off to bed now. It's very late."

Ginny followed her to the girl's dormitory, and the boys went to theirs.

Harry fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. He slept until the morning, when he was awoken by someone calling his name.


	3. Games and Freedom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder that this story is very AU. I've added quite a bit of new things that simply did not exist in the canon (though some of it should have).

"Harry."

Harry rolled over in his bed, trying to ignore the voice.

"Harry, wake up!"

"Go away, Ron." He mumbled.

"Ron? Do I sound like your ginger-haired friend? Wake up, dammit!"

"What?" Harry bolted upright. The dormitory was empty, he noticed.

"Oy! Do you mind? It's dark in here!"

The voice was coming from his trunk at the end of the bed. Harry slipped off his bed and opened the trunk. Under a pile of socks, he found the mirror his godfather had given him last summer. And instead of his own face reflecting off it, he found Sirius himself staring back at him.

"Much better. Looked like I was in an abyss."

"Abyss? That's my trunk." Harry quirked an eyebrow.

Sirius chuckled. "Either way, I was wondering if you'd forgotten about this mirror. I always keep mine on me, so if you wanted to talk to me, all you had to do was say my name to your own mirror. Much easier than breaking into Umbridge's office."

Harry mentally kicked himself. "I did forget! We went to all that trouble for nothing!"

"Not for nothing, Harry." His godfather assured him. "The teachers brought the lovely High Inquisitor back this morning. She'll be at St. Mungo's for awhile. So you did accomplish something."

"Sirius!" Said a voice in the background.

"Remus! Have you heard what she's said about werewolves? And what she did to Harry and his friends? I never thought I'd hate someone more than Snivellus, but that woman…"

"That's enough, Padfoot. It's over now. We've got to go to breakfast, and so does Harry."

"Fine, fine." He turned back to Harry. "Minerva invited Remus and I to sit at the teacher's table."

"Fun." Harry smirked.

"I'd much rather sit at Gryffindor table." Sirius said.

"Sirius! Let's go!" Remus called from the background.

"Coming! Bye, Harry. See you at breakfast!" The mirror cleared then, and Harry could see his own face.

Sighing, Harry dressed himself and tried to tame his hair once more, to no avail. Checking the time, he noticed breakfast wouldn't start for another five minutes. So where were his roommates?

He went downstairs, and as he neared the common room, he could hear people talking. A lot of people.

"Good morning, Harry." He was greeted by Ginny, who seemed to have been waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.

"It's about time!" Seamus said. "We've been waiting for you!"

"Shut it, Seamus! Harry deserved to sleep in for once." Dean chided.

"Morning." Harry said, looking around for Ron and Hermione.

"Over here, mate." Ron appeared next to him. "Let's go eat. I'm starved."

"I'd send you to Madame Pomfrey if you weren't, Ron." Ginny teased.

Everyone laughed, including Ron, and they climbed out of the portrait hole.

In the Great Hall, Harry sat down between Ginny and Neville. Hermione and Ron sat across from them. He looked up at the teacher table and saw Sirius sitting between Professor McGonagall and Remus. His godfather seemed to be enjoying his conversation with the Deputy Headmistress.

"Hey, isn't that Professor Lupin?" Harry turned around to see a group of Hufflepuffs gawking at the teacher's table.

"And that man next to him! It looks like… Sirius Black!" There was a collective gasp throughout the hall.

McGonagall noticed the student's reaction, and she silently stood. The Great Hall grew quiet.

McGonagall began her speech. "Good morning, students. I hope you all rested well. In a few minutes, the Owl Post will arrive, and many of you will receive the morning's issue of the Daily Prophet, as well as letters from your families detailing the events of last night. Considering the lack of… common sense in recent Daily Prophet issues, I feel it is necessary to give you the facts beforehand. First, you must know that last night, Lord Voldemort-" Several students gasped at the name. "And his Death Eaters attacked the Ministry. Fortunately, our own Professor Dumbledore, with the Aurors and other witches and wizards were able to fend them off. The Minister has not revealed what they were after, but whatever it may be, it is still in Ministry hands.

"Before they could escape, two Death Eaters were captured. One of them was Peter Pettigrew, a man believed to be dead at the hands of Sirius Black." She motioned towards Sirius next to him. "After a short interview with Pettigrew, the Minister has cleared Sirius of all charges. He is an innocent man, and was wrongfully imprisoned for crimes committed by Pettigrew. I am pleased to welcome him to Hogwarts as a guest, along with his friend, and your favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin."

Applause and cheers filled the hall for a few moments, dying down again when McGonagall raised her hand.

"I must also inform you that the High Inquisitor will not be returning this year, or ever again. She had an unfortunate experience in the Forbidden Forest and was admitted into St. Mungo's this morning. Unfortunately, she is expected to make a full recovery."

Several students whooped at the thought of never hearing "a-hem" ever again.

"I do have one more piece of news. Due to the ridiculous events of this year, Dumbledore has asked me to cancel the last Quidditch game." There was a panicked gasp across the hall. "In its place, we will have a Games Day in Hogsmeade on the last day before the holidays. Each of the teachers will design a challenge for students to participate in.

"There will be food, drinks, and games and prizes to win, as well. For each challenge you succeed in, you win points for your House. The House with the most points at the end of the day wins the Hogwarts Challenge Cup. Since we do not have a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, I have asked Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black to create a challenge for the subject. More information will be posted in your Common Rooms. Every student is invited to attend and participate. Dumbledore has informed me that, should this event goes well, we will continue it next year as a sort of farewell gift. The Quidditch Cup will begin again next year as well.

"And now I must thank you for your patience. I'm sure you're all very hungry and would like a chance to digest all the information you've just received, so without further ado," She clapped her hands, and food appeared on the platters across the tables. "Enjoy." She sat down and everyone began to serve themselves food.

"Finally!" Ron began serving himself large helpings of hot cakes, bacon and sausage.

"That was a lot to take in." Hermione said, neatly cutting her hot cake into pieces.

"Quidditch is canceled? I'm not sure how I feel about it." Ginny said.

"Well, look on the bright side," Neville swallowed a bit of sausage. "At least they've made up for it with a really cool event. And unlike the Triwizard Tournament, everyone can participate."

"Yeah, that's a relief." Harry said. "But it is a shame. We only had one game left, and I really wanted to see Ravenclaw pound Slytherin."

"Hey, speaking of Slytherin, did you notice who isn't here this morning?" Ginny was looking at the Slytherin table.

"Where's Malfoy?" Neville asked. "Do you think he's too scared to come out of his room?"

"His mother probably removed him from the school." Hermione said. "I know I would. McGonagall didn't release Lucius Malfoy's name, but the Prophet probably will. Draco will get a lot of grief for it."

"He'd deserve it, the git." Ron said. "Remember all the problems he caused this year? He's the reason Harry got banned from Quidditch."

"Either way, I wonder if he'll be back next year." Harry said.

"I'm sure he will be." Hermione said. "Once it's all died down."

A flurry of feathers distracted them all for a moment. Sure enough, the Daily Prophet was covered in headlines and photos of the previous night. There was an entire spread about Sirius, explaining how he was innocent and how much the Ministry was giving him in compensation.

"I don't know, Hermione. I'm not sure this is just going to die down." Harry noted as the five of them scanned the newspaper.

Just then the doors of the Great Hall swung open. Everyone turned to see who it was.

Albus Dumbledore stood straight and tall in the doorway. As he took a step forward, the entire hall burst into cheers. It was through this clamour that he made his way, a slight smile on his face, to the teacher's table. Finally, after shaking hands with teachers who were welcoming him back, he reached Sirius. Dumbledore shook his hand and after greeting Professor McGonagall, he took his place at the center of the table. The hall grew quiet, anticipating another speech.

"I see you've begun without me. But I suppose that is to be expected when one is late for breakfast. I trust that Professor McGonagall has informed you of all the latest news, as has the Daily Prophet." Dumbledore picked up the glass in front of him. "Then I will keep this short." He raised the glass. "A toast to my dear friend, Sirius Black. He was once feared by all for false accusations, but his name has been cleared. I, for one, am honored that he has chosen to spend his first day as a free man here at Hogwarts. To Sirius Black!"

"To Sirius Black!" The students and teachers echoed. Harry caught Sirius' eye, and they shared a happy smile.

Dumbledore sat down finally, and the hall returned to its former state of chatter.

"So, now that Dumbledore's back, do you think he'll tell us what the weapon is?" Ron asked through a mouthful of food.

"Ron! He just got back and that's the first thing you ask?" Hermione glared at him.

"What? You know you're curious, too." Ron argued, swallowing.

"Oh, fine. Yes, I want to know. But I have quite a few other questions for him as well." Hermione said, turning back to her plate.

"Look! It's Hedwig." Ginny cried.

The others followed her gaze. Hedwig was soaring down towards Harry. She landed gracefully in front of him and held out her foot. He untied the note attached to her leg and gave her a bit of toast and bacon to nibble on.

"It's from Dumbledore." Harry whispered. "It says, '3 o'clock this afternoon. Come alone. Pumpkin Juice.'"

"Pumpkin juice?" Ron asked.

"It's probably the password, Ron." Hermione said. "He wants you to go alone?" Her face was full of disappointment.

"He knows I'll tell you two everything he tells me." Harry said.

"Maybe he doesn't want any distractions. Hermione has a lot of questions and Ron has a lot of angst." Ginny suggested.

"Hey!" Ron choked on his milk as he tried to speak and drink at the same time. Hermione performed a spell under the table to clear his lungs. "Ahem. Thanks, 'Mione."

"Whatever his reasons, we just have to respect Dumbledore's wishes. And Harry, you don't have to tell us everything. We understand if Dumbledore asks you to keep certain things a secret." Hermione gave him a reassuring smile.

Harry returned the smile, thinking to himself that there was no way he was keeping anything from his two best friends. They'd been through way too much together.


	4. Truth Be Told

Harry arrived at the entrance of Dumbledore's office a few minutes before three.

"Pumpkin juice!" He said to the gargoyle statue. It responded by hopping out of the way, allowing Harry to climb the stairs behind it. At the top, he knocked on the door.

"Enter."

The door opened slightly and Harry entered the circular office. Sitting behind the desk was Albus Dumbledore.

"Welcome, Harry. Do sit down."

"Professor Dumbledore… um, welcome back." Harry said, taking a seat and accepting a cup of tea levitating to him.

"Thank you, dear boy. It is good to be back." Professor Dumbledore replied. "Now, I'm sure you have many questions. Perhaps what I am about to tell you will answer some of them."

Harry nodded, and waited for the Headmaster to continue.

"As you know, the Order of the Phoenix has spent this past year guarding the Department of Mysteries, which contained something Lord Voldemort sought. Something he did not have in the first war."

"It was a weapon, right?" Harry asked.

"Not in the conventional sense. Harry, do you know what a prophecy is?"

"Um… it's a prediction of the future, right?"

"Close, but a prophecy is much more than just a prediction."

"So the weapon was a prophecy?"

"Indeed. And last night, unfortunately, the prophecy Voldemort was after shattered. He will never know the true contents of it." At Harry's confusion, he cleared his throat. "Oh, my apologies, you probably don't know this. In the Department of Mysteries are thousands of prophecies, contained within magical orbs. They are quite fragile, and are therefore never to be removed from the depths of the Department of Mysteries. Each prophecy is labeled based on the person it was about, and then placed on a pedestal that only the subject of the prophecy can remove it from."

"And that prophecy, it was about Voldemort?"

"Indeed, but not just him." Dumbledore gazed at him from behind his half-moon spectacles. "It was also about you, Harry."

"Me?"

"You. The contents of that prophecy foretold of a great wizard who would be able to defeat Lord Voldemort. That great wizard was you. "

"But if it was destroyed, how will I ever know what it said?"

Dumbledore chuckled and sipped his tea. "Relax, dear boy. The prophecy is not completely forgotten. You remember Professor Trelawney?"

"She's hard to forget." Harry said, and Dumbledore chuckled again.

"Quite. And do you recall what happened during your exam in your third year?"

Harry thought. "She suddenly changed. She had a strange voice and said that the Dark Lord's follower would return to him that night. But a few seconds later she didn't remember a thing. That… that was a prophecy, wasn't it?"

"Indeed, and we now know that it was speaking of the recently arrested Peter Pettigrew. You see, that was not the first time Sybil Trelawney spoke a true prophecy. Sixteen years ago, I arrived at the Hog's Head Inn to interview a prospective Divination professor. I've never been fond of Divination and I must admit I wasn't keen on having it taught at Hogwarts anymore. But this applicant happened to be the great-great-granddaughter of Cassandra, one of the most famous and gifted Seers in history, and I thought it would be rude not to meet her.

"But I was disappointed. She didn't seem to have a shred of the talent her ancestor had, and I courteously told her that I didn't think she was suited for the job. But as I turned to leave…" Dumbledore stood and went to the black cabinet near Fawkes' perch. Opening it, he removed the large, tone basin and carried it back to the desk. Setting the Pensieve down, he raised his wand to his own temple, and withdrew silvery, gossamer-fine strands of thought, and deposited them in the basin.

He prodded the silvery substance with the tip of his wand, and suddenly, a figure rose out of it.

"Professor Trelawney." Harry said, recognizing the woman draped in shawls and beads.

Then she spoke, but not in her usual mystical voice, but in the harsh tones he had heard the night Pettigrew escaped.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… And either must die at the hands of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"

The silence that followed was deafening. Neither Dumbledore nor Harry spoke, and even Fawkes made no noise.

Finally, Harry asked. "What… what did that mean, Professor?"

"It meant," Dumbledore explained. "That the only person who could defeat Voldemort for good would be born at the end of July, nearly sixteen years ago. The child would be born to parents who had defied him three times."

Harry felt strange, and found it difficult to breathe. "It means… me? I have to defeat Voldemort?"

"Well, that's the strange part. You see, you weren't the only one born at the end of July, whose parents had defied him three times. There was one other child who fit this criteria."

"Who?"

"Neville Longbottom." Dumbledore allowed Harry a moment to think about it for a moment. "He was born only a day before you. But it was the second part that decided which of you was destined to fight Voldemort. 'The Dark Lord will mark him as his equal'."

Harry instinctively reached for his scar.

"Voldemort chose you instead of Neville, and that scar, both a blessing and a curse, marks you as his enemy, his equal."

"But what if he chose wrong? He might have marked the wrong person!" said Harry.

"He chose the boy he thought would be a greater danger to him. A boy who, as a half-blood, was more like him than the other. He saw himself in you before he'd ever seen you, and in marking you with that scar, he did not kill you, as intended, but gave you powers, and a future, which have allowed you to escape him not once, but four times so far, a feat neither your parents, nor Neville's, ever achieved."

"But why did he do it?" Harry felt numb and cold. "Why didn't he wait to see whether Neville or I looked more dangerous when we were older and tried to kill whoever it was then-"

"That might indeed have been the more practical course," Dumbledore said. "Except that Voldemort' information about the prophecy was incomplete. The Hog's Head has long attracted a more interesting clientele, and it is never safe to assume you are not being overheard. Of course, I had never dreamed, when I set out to meet Sybil Trelawney, that I would hear anything worth overhearing. My - our - one stroke of good fortune was that the eavesdropper was detected only a short way into the prophecy and thrown from the building."

"So he only heard…?"

"He heard only the first part, the part foretelling the birth of a boy in July to parents who had thrice defied Voldemort. Consequently, he could not warn his master that to attack you would be to risk transferring power to you - again marking you as his equal. So Voldemort never knew that there might be danger in attacking you, that it might be wise to wait or to learn more. He did not know that you would have 'power the Dark Lord knows not' -"

"But I haven't got powers he doesn't have!" Harry argued. "I barely escaped alive last year, and if the Triwizard cup hadn't still been a portkey, I certainly would've-"

There is a room in the Department of Mysteries," interrupted Dumbledore., "That is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subject for study that reside there. It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all. The power took you to find Sirius last night, although your friend, Hermione, saved you all from possible disaster by considering Professor Snape was on your side. In the end, it mattered not that you could not close your mind. It was your heart that saved you."

Harry closed his eyes, considering what might have happened if he'd blindly stormed into battle at the Ministry, rather than listening to Hermione. "But my heart was wrong. What if… what if Hermione hadn't said anything and we did go to the Department of Mysteries?"

"Again, you followed your heart by trusting in your friend's judgement. It takes a lot of courage to admit you could have been wrong. But we may never know what might've happened if you'd joined the battle."

For a long time, neither of them spoke. Harry felt as though time had stopped for him, even though he could faintly hear the sounds of students laughing and joking on the grounds far below the window.

"So, what do I do now?" Harry asked.

"Now, you rest, and enjoy the rest of the school year. I'm sure Miss Granger is already reading some dusty old book to try and guess what each teacher will prepare for Games Day. I suggest you practice the skills you already have. Madam Hooch is preparing a Challenge, as well, and I have no doubt you will excel in it."

Harry smiled, and watched as Professor Dumbledore stood and made his way to the window. "Ah, I see some students are preparing for a game of Quidditch. A perfect opportunity, don't you think?"

"But sir, my broom is-"

"Right over there." Dumbledore motioned to the fireplace. Leaning against it was Harry's firebolt. "Off you go, then. Find your friends and have fun."

"But while we're having fun, what will Voldemort be up to?"

"I assure you, Harry, that the Order and the Ministry are not taking a day off. We are making plans, and I cannot tell you all of them, but suffice it to say, Voldemort and his followers will be hard-pressed to defeat us."

Harry nodded. He had faith in Dumbledore's plans. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't let this beautiful day go to waste."

He looked back at Professor Dumbledore and saw the twinkle in his eye had returned. With a wave, he almost ran to the Entrance Hall to find Hermione, Ron and the rest of his friends.


	5. Decision Made

"You can't be serious!"

Cornelius Fudge glanced between the two wizards sitting in his office. He had to admit he wasn't fond of either of them. Thank goodness that outburst hadn't been directed at him.

"I have explained to you before, Sirius, why he must stay."

"Yes, I know. Blood magic is powerful, but he doesn't have to stay there forever, Albus. Remus and I are perfectly capable of protecting him. And you and Mad-Eye can set up wards to-"

"And leave his aunt's family unprotected? If the spell breaks, they are liable to attack from Voldemort-" Fudge flinched. "And his Death Eaters."

Sirius looked as though he could care less about Harry's muggle relatives, but instead of saying so, he turned to Fudge, who was silently wishing he was invisible.

"Minister, I am Harry's godfather. Lily and James wrote in their will that I was to take care of Harry in the event of their deaths. By all rights, he should be living with me."

Fudge gulped, and glanced at Dumbledore.

"I have already given you my reasons for Harry to stay with his aunt and uncle."

"Albus, the Dursleys hate Harry. They bully him and treat him like a slave. He's not happy there."

"But he is safe."

"Define safe."

"Gentlemen, please!" Fudge cried frantically. Both heads snapped towards him. "As the Minister, I must make this decision. I… um… understand both of your arguments and I must ask that you give me some time to mull it over. I needn't remind you that Mr. Potter is no ordinary child and I will be taking into account his safety. Now, I will inform you both of my decision tomorrow, at 11 am. The school year is in session still and Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts, where both of you will be as well. I will see you both tomorrow."

Sirius tried to leave the office calmly, with Professor Dumbledore right behind him. They managed to get a lift to themselves.

"Do we really trust Cornelius Fudge to make this decision?" Sirius asked Dumbledore, trying to sound civil. He was annoyed with the Headmaster, but he understood why the man was so adamant.

"Unfortunately, I do not believe we have a choice. For now, Cornelius is the Minister."

"For now?"

"I have heard some murmurs of dissent amongst the Ministry. I doubt he will still be in charge at the end of the summer."

"Well, after bashing you and Harry the whole year, and then the fiasco at the Department of Mysteries, he's certainly lost the little credibility he had." Sirius agreed.

They were silent for a moment, until the lift stopped at the Atrium. They both stepped off and headed for the nearest floo.

"Alastor informed me that you've taken a job as an Auror?"

"Yeah, I start training in July. I take the test in August and then I officially start in September."

"I'm sure you'll do well. But why are you taking the test again? You and James were both Aurors during the war."

"Well, the funny thing is, I don't remember ever taking a test… Mad-Eye said they stopped doing them during the war. I suppose tests would have slowed things down. James and I went through a week's training and then given our first mission."

The two of them joined the shortest queue.

"Indeed, that was a darker time. I fear that darkness may be upon us again."

"Yeah, I've got that feeling, too. That's why I want Harry with me. I hate him being at the Dursley's, so far away."

"I understand, Sirius, but I do not know another way."

"Maybe Fudge does…" Sirius thought for a moment. "Or one of his advisers."

"Strange, I didn't think he had any, considering the number of letters he used to send me, asking for advice."

They laughed, catching stares from other people.

"Well, I suppose we'll find out tomorrow." Sirius said.

* * *

"I am pleased to say that I have found a compromise." The minister said the next day, an all-too-pleasant smile on his face.

"And what would that be?" Sirius asked.

"Well, first, I have one thing I must clarify." Fudge turned to Dumbledore. "For this blood magic spell to work, how long must Harry stay with the Dursleys each summer before he can leave?"

"I should think a few days would suffice. He must return each summer to keep the spell from breaking." Dumbledore said.

"So, if he were to go for, say a week, just to be safe, he could leave and not return until next summer?"

"That is correct." Dumbledore nodded.

"Then that is what we'll do. I'll file it as a joint custody. The Dursleys get Harry for one week a year, and the rest of the year he lives with Sirius. But from what you've told me, Harry must see the Dursleys house as his other home for the spell to work, so I'm trusting both of you to make sure he understands that. If that works for both of you, then we can sign the paperwork right now. Dumbledore, you'll have to get Mrs. Dursley to sign as well."

Sirius and Dumbledore shared a surprised glance with each other.

"That's a good plan, Minister." Sirius said.

"I quite agree." said Dumbledore.

"Wonderful." Fudge looked positively relieved. "Percy!"

A moment later, Percy Weasley entered with a stack of papers. "Here you are, Minister."

"Thank you. I'll file them myself, so you may return to your previous work. Off you go."

Obediently, Percy left without even a glance at the other two in the office.

"Now then, you'll both have to sign here, here and here." Cornelius handed them each a quill. "And Mrs. Dursley will sign in these places that I've marked." Cornelius slipped the papers into a sealed envelope. "I need these back by this time tomorrow, Dumbledore. I realize that isn't much time, but…"

"I'll return them tonight, signed, Cornelius."

"Oh, well that's… good. Very good. Have a nice day, gentlemen."

Sirius and Dumbledore left the office, both in a considerably better mood than they'd expected to be in.


	6. Regrets

Percy collapsed onto the sofa of his flat in Diagon Alley that evening, completely exhausted. The past week had been a nightmare. He waved his wand to set some tea to brew over the fire, and then stared at the pile of newspapers from the past few days.

On the very top was a headline about Dolores Umbridge. He'd read it five times, and each time he wanted to bang his head on the wall.

How could he have been so wrong?

Why did he let his pride get to him?

Percy sighed, wondering how his parents were doing. His brothers, his baby sister.

He remembered saying to his mother once, "Ginny has other brothers to be her role model, mother."

Some role model he'd been. He'd allowed her to be mistreated by that woman, the so-called High Inquisitor. Ginny herself was quoted in the article, saying "She's a monster. I hope I never see her again."

Other students had claimed that Umbridge made them write with quills that used their own blood as punishments.

And the words they wrote, if written enough, were etched into the backs of their hands, painfully.

And he'd let it happen. To his younger brothers and sister.

And it wasn't just Umbridge. Fudge was wrong, too.

Fudge had been wrong about Sirius Black…

He'd been wrong about Dumbledore…

He'd been wrong about Umbridge…

And Percy had been wrong to believe in either of them. He wanted nothing more than to run home to his mother and beg her forgiveness, but he was afraid. What if they didn't want him back?

It was these thoughts that kept him from enjoying his fresh hot tea, or his favorite book, Prefects Who Gained Power. He couldn't help but remember the day he'd found it in the second-hand shop. Ron had found him there, reading it. He couldn't remember what his brother had said, but he'd angrily told him to piss off.

He regretted that. He regretted how, at the beginning of his seventh year, he'd accused Ron of losing his Head Boy badge. He later found out it wasn't Ron who'd taken it, but Fred and George. He'd been wrong then, too. But Fred and George hadn't. They'd rightfully changed "Head Boy" to "Bighead Boy".

Percy couldn't stop himself from laughing, and the laughter soon turned to sobs. He suddenly missed the twins' antics. He'd do anything to have a prank played on him once more. Anything to hear Bill and Charlie talk about their adventures, stories he'd never listened to because he'd been too busy reading some sort of stuffy book.

He'd do anything to have a second chance with Ron and Ginny, to tell them stories of his own, to have them look up to him as they did to Bill, Charlie and the twins. And to have his dad offer him a tour of the old shed again. He swore he'd say yes this time.

And he'd do anything to receive a new sweater from his mother, knitted by her own loving hands, the letter P for Percy skillfully knitted on the front.

He stood up, wiping the tears away, and made his way to the kitchen. He opened a drawer, and pulled out a framed photo. It was of him and his family on a trip to Egypt a few years ago. All of them were there, happily waving at the camera. It was the last time they'd all gone on a trip together, just them.

He was glad he'd never thrown it out.

* * *

"I get to live with you?"

Sirius smiled at Harry. It was the last Hogsmeade weekend and the two of them were sitting in the Three Broomsticks, along with Remus.

"And Remus, too. We'll all be living in his cottage. It's in a secluded place, and it's already got several magical spells protecting it." Sirius said quietly. "But I don't want you telling everyone, maybe just Hermione and the Weasley children. They'll probably be visiting over the summer, anyways, so they've got to know where you're living."

"But Harry, you must remember what we told you about the blood protection." Remus reminded him. "If you don't think of the Dursleys' house as your other home, then it won't work and you won't be protected."

"I understand. I have to spend the first week of summer there, right?"

Remus and Sirius both nodded.

"Right, and while you're there, Dumbledore and Mad-Eye will be placing more wards on the cottage. In fact," Sirius lowered his voice and leaned in. "We'll be using a Fidelius Charm to hide it. We haven't decided who the Secret Keeper will be yet, but we're going to make sure Dumbledore knows who it is this time."

Remus nodded. "During the war, my father placed a Fidelius Charm on the cottage, and he only told my mother and me the location. When he died, the war was already over, so we ended the charm. Like the Blacks in Grimmauld Place, my family has lived in the cottage for generations. The Lupins are originally from France, but my great-great-great grandfather immigrated over here, and built the cottage."

"We say cottage, but it's a fair size." Sirius said. "The whole place is enchanted, too, garden and all."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll have to wait and see. Remus' mother was a muggle, so his dad wanted her to see the better side of magic. It's breathtaking." Sirius' explanation left Harry more confused.

"He also redid the kitchen so that it suited both muggle and wizard tastes." Remus added.

"And that's why Remus will do most of the cooking." Sirius said.

"Because I know how to use a bloody toaster?" Remus asked.

"A toaster?" Harry asked. "Sirius doesn't know how to use a toaster?"

"That, my friend, is a story for another day." Sirius said, paying the bill so they could leave.

Harry smiled. He couldn't wait to move in with Remus and Sirius in the "enchanted" cottage. A week with the Dursleys? No problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Percy is going to get an early redemption story. I don't know why, but I like Percy. He can be a complete git, but... yeah, I'm sure there are some redeeming qualities in him... somewhere... 
> 
> Charlie is the best Weasley though, in my opinion. If you don't feel the same way, that's fine. You are entitled to your wrong opinion.


	7. Let The Games Begin

Harry couldn't dress himself fast enough. He and his roommates hadn't been this excited all year. The day was finally here. Everyone was packed and ready to go home the next day, but before they left, there was one last thing to do.

It was Games Day, and the four houses were ready to compete for the Challenge Cup. Harry was confident he and his fellow Quidditch players would score in Madame Hooch's Flying Challenge, and he had good reason to believe that he'd do well in the Defense Against the Dark Arts Challenge as well.

"Come on! Let's go already!" Ron called impatiently from the doorway.

Harry and Neville joined him and they met Ginny and Hermione in the Common Room. Together, they made their way into a crowded Great Hall for breakfast.

After everyone was done eating and the platters and dishes cleared away, Dumbledore stood, and all chatter died away.

"Good morning to you all, and welcome to the first-ever Hogwarts Games Day. In a few moments, you will be released from the hall, and you will make your way to Hogsmeade, where we have set up a carnival of sorts, complete with food, drink, and games at various stalls. The people of Hogsmeade have closed their shops today in order to run these stalls. Upon entering the carnival grounds, you will receive ten tickets. You may buy more if you wish. Each game costs one ticket to play, and if you win these games, you will win prizes. At the food stalls, each drink, treat, or item on the menu also costs one ticket.

"Of course, the major event of today are the challenges. There are thirteen challenges you may take on. You may do each challenge once, whether you pass or fail it. Depending on how well you perform, or how fast, in some cases, you will receive either one, five, or ten points for your House. The House with the most points at the end of the day wins the Challenge Cup. I will announce the winning house at tonight's feast, as well as the winner of the House Cup.

"I expect you all to practice good sportsmanship today. These challenges will be difficult, but I know you will each find something you can succeed at. This is a competition, but today isn't just about that, it is also about having fun. There are dark times ahead of us, and it is our duty to enjoy these moments of happiness before they are gone. Now, for the sake of all our sanities, I will release you by years, the first year's first. Professor McGonagall will be waiting for you in the Entrance Hall to lead you to Hogsmeade Village."

"Geez, I didn't even notice she left." Ron muttered from Harry's side.

"All of the professors left, Ron. It's just Dumbledore up there." Hermione pointed out.

The first years filed out of the hall.

"And now, second years, please follow Professor Flitwick to the village."

"Third years, I hope by now that you know the way."

"Fourth years, off you go." Ginny left them, promising to meet them in front of the DADA challenge in fifteen minutes, where they had decided to start off. She immediately caught up with Luna, and the two girls left the hall together.

"Fifth years, it's your turn."

Harry and his friends stood and tried their best to walk instead of run. When they reached Hogsmeade Village, they were given ten tickets, as Dumbledore had said, and a map of the carnival's attractions.

"Wow! Madame Rosmerta has two stalls set up. One just for drinks and one for food. We should go there for lunch." Ron said, his mouth watering.

"I don't see one for the Hog's Head." Hermione noted. "I suppose it's not really student-friendly."

"The challenges are on that side of the village." Harry said, pointing in the direction of the Shrieking Shack, and area that was usually quite barren, but today it was dotted with thirteen signs, each with a special challenge below it."

"Ooh, the Runic Riddles Challenge looks like fun!" Hermione squealed.

"Arithmancy Hopskotch? How do you play that?" Ron asked. "I think I'll try Hagrid's 'Find the Magical Creature' challenge after the DADA Target Challenge."

"Sirius and Remus put a lot of work into this." Hermione said. "The sign says we have to use our wands to shoot the targets. If we hit enough targets, we move to the next stage. Getting through all three stages is ten points for our house. Two stages is 5 points and one stage is one point."

"Brilliant." Ron said.

"Oy! I thought I heard some troublemakers." Sirius walked over to the sign where they were reading the rules. "What do you think? Remus wanted to put you through an obstacle course, but I told him McGonagall's already doing one. Have you been over there yet? It's pretty neat. She had me test it to make sure it wasn't impossible."

"Actually, we were going to start with yours." Hermione said.

Sirius' smile widened. "Well, I'm honored, then. Right this way. One of the ranges is open. Who's first?"

"Me!" Cried a voice from behind them.

They all turned to find Ginny, accompanied by Luna. She stepped past them, and Sirius led her to the shooting range. He waved his wand, and several targets appeared on the wall ten feet away. Ginny shot them down easily, but more took their place, many of them moving. Despite this, she cleared the first stage in just over a minute.

Sirius glanced at Harry as Ginny cleared the second stage. "She's a lot like your mother."

"He's right. Ginny is as fierce as Lily." Remus said, coming from where he'd been assisting a group of first years.

"Professor Lupin!" A group of Fourth Year Ravenclaws called his attention, and Remus left to help them.

"Luna, aren't they your roommates?" Ron asked.

"Yes, I suppose they are." Luna said thoughtfully. "But I'd much rather be with all of you.

"You're always welcome with us, Luna." Harry assured her, knowing how mean Luna's fellow housemates could be.

Luna smiled. At that moment, Ginny cleared the third stage and challenged Ron to beat her time. Ron failed to and Harry managed to beat her by one second. Hermione beat Ron but finished a few seconds slower than Ginny. Luna took the longest but she didn't seem concerned about her time in the first place.

"Well, you've each earned ten points for your houses. Good thing the rules say you can only try each challenge once, or you lot would win way too easily." Sirius said, as a group of Gryffindor second years approached him. "Good luck on your other challenges! I'll see you later."

They waved goodbye to Sirius and Remus and went on their way.

"So, what next?" Ron asked.

"I want to try the the Runic Riddles Challenge." Hermione said.

"That sounds interesting." said Luna. "May I join you?"

"Of course! Are you taking Ancient Runes?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, it's one of my favorite classes." Luna told her.

"I want to try the Find the Magical Creature Challenge." Ginny said. "I bet it'll be interesting. Hagrid helped design it."

Ron and Harry both agreed with Ginny.

"Let's meet back at McGonagall's challenge after we finish these." Hermione said.

Their plan made, the group split into two, with Ginny, Ron and Harry going to the very edge of the area to find the Care of Magical Creatures challenge. Hagrid was there, happy as could be, and he greeted the group cheerfully.

"Look here!" Hagrid motioned to Neville, who stood next to him. "Firs' student to find all five creatures. He's earned ten points for ya'.

"That's fantastic, Neville!" Harry said, genuinely proud of his friend.

"Thanks, Harry. This one's pretty difficult, and there's a time limit. Hagrid and Professor Grubbly-Plank trained the creatures really well, and they've each got several places to hide." Neville told them. "Best of luck to you. I'm going to try Professor Sprout's Living Maze Challenge next."

"Thanks, mate. Good luck to you, too." Harry said. When Neville was gone, he turned to Ron and Ginny. "I don't think I'll be trying the maze. I've had enough experiences in one for a lifetime."

"Yeah, no kidding." Ron agreed.

Hagrid then led them to the paddock where the five creatures were hiding. "Righ' then, ye can all go in together. There's several of each creature, but ye each need to find yer own. You'll need these." He handed them each a piece of parchment with the names and drawings of each creature they needed to find, and a bottle of ink. "See those boxes beside each picture? Tha's for the creature to draw it's own little signature on, an' prove ye found it. Mind ye don't touch the ink yerselves. It'll dye yer skin, and you'll be disqualified for cheating, trying to draw the signatures yerselves and whatnot."

"Alrigh' then, in ye go and don' worry, nothin' dangerous in there." He closed the paddock, which was a small wooded area, behind him.

"Why is it," Ron said. "That every time he says there's nothing dangerous, I get a bad feeling?"

"Oh, calm down, Ron." Ginny said. "Professor Grubbly-Plank planned most of it, remember? And besides, none of the creatures on this guide are dangerous."

"We have to find thestrals." Ron said. "Aren't they invisible?"

"Not to those who've seen death." said Ginny, as she picked up a flobberworm. The warm suddenly glowed and dipped itself in Ginny's enchanted ink. It drew a circle on her checklist and she set it back down.

"Well that explains why Neville was the only one who cleared this. He can see them, like me." Harry said, walking forward. "Hey, I found a bowtruckle." The aforementioned stick-like creature signed Harry's checklist and scuttled off.

The three of them quickly found the first four creatures: flobberworms, bowtruckles, crups, and snarls. They had only two minutes to find the thestrals.

"Are we just supposed to walk around until we run into one?" Ron asked.

"No! Look, there's some meat on that branch!" Harry exclaimed. "Just like what Hagrid fed the Thestrals! Must be for people who can't see them."

"Brilliant! Accio meat!" They summoned the meat and held it out in front of themselves, suddenly, the meat began to disappear. Ron and Ginny each set the meat, their checklists and the ink on the ground, and watch as inked hoofprints appeared next to the drawings of the thestrals.

Harry found a third thestral, and then rejoined Ron and Ginny.

A whistle blew from outside the paddock. "Time's up for this group! Everyone bring your checklists!" They heard Professor Grubbly-Plank call.

Ron, Harry and Ginny returned the ink and proudly handed over their checklists.

"Fine work indeed. I see you three paid attention in Professor Hagrid's lesson. Top notch! A full ten points to each of you."

The three of them thanked her and waved goodbye to Hagrid, who was now beaming, and then made their way to McGonagall's challenge.

Hermione and Luna were waiting in front of the challenge for them.

"The Runic Riddles Challenge was wonderful!" Hermione cried. "There were five rooms, and we had to solve riddles that were written in ancient runes to move through to the next room. If you gave the wrong answer, or misspelled it, you were sent back to the beginning and done. Luna and I are the only ones who made it through all five rooms so far."

McGonagall's challenge was interesting. It was, as Sirius said, an obstacle course. The obstacles were impossible to climb and would move so that you could not walk around them. Your only choice was to transfigure them into something smaller or less inconvenient. Only Ginny and Hermione earned ten points. Ron, Harry and Luna each earned one point for taking too long.

"That was just as difficult as I expected." Ron said.

"Well, it was McGonagall."

"So there's thirteen challenges." Ginny said. "And I'm doing eight of them. So I'm going to do two more, eat lunch and then play some games before I do the last three."

"Oh, yeah. We should take some time to try out the games." Hermione said. "Let's do Flitwick's and Madame Hooch's challenges and then have lunch."

The others agreed and they headed over to the Levitation Challenge, where you had to levitate a yellow ball over a pool of pink goop, while blue balls flew across the pool trying to knock down your ball. Getting it across without dropping it in one minute earned you ten points. Getting it across in two minutes earned you five, and getting it across in over two minutes earned you one.

At the Air Acrobats Challenge, Harry and Ginny each earned ten points for Gryffindor by racing from one end of an obstacle course to the other, without a single collision.

They bought butterbeer and mince pies from Madame Rosmerta's stalls, and found seats at a picnic area nearby. After lunch, they tried out a few games, and won some prizes. Harry won a stuffed rabbit that he gave to Luna, as it was her patronus, and some filibuster fireworks for himself.

It was early afternoon when they returned to the Challenges. They avoided Snape's Labyrinth, which was a tunnel with five doors blocking the way. Each door only opened if it's riddle was correctly answered. Students were allowed to turn around and leave through the door they came from, but would find themselves magically transported back to a door next to the entrance of the tunnel, with the word "Dunce" over it.

"Hey, isn't that Tonks?" Hermione asked. "Tonks!"

Sure enough, the woman up ahead was Tonks.

"Wotcher!" She greeted them.

"We didn't expect to see you here, Tonks." Hermione said.

"Oh, I'm just here for security reasons. The Minister wanted Aurors here as extra security because it's in Hogsmeade Village. Not as protected as Hogwarts, see?"

"I haven't seen any other Aurors." Ron said.

"Well, Sirius is one, albeit not officially yet. But the others aren't as recognizable as I am."

"Speaking of Sirius, have you seen the challenge he and Remus set up?" Hermione asked. "It's a lot of fun."

"Oh, uh… yeah… I saw it earlier. It looked neat… I gotta go… see you all later." Tonks turned and disappeared into the crowd.

"Hmm… So that's it." Hermione said.

"What's it? What's her problem? Is she angry at something?" Ron asked.

"Ron, you are so clueless." Ginny said.

"It's Remus, isn't it?" Harry said, surprising the girls. "I've noticed some glances between them, and Sirius seems annoyed with Remus every time Tonks is around."

"Why is Tonks angry at Remus?" Ron asked.

Hermione sighed. "Because she likes him Ron, and he's obviously not returning her feelings."

"What? But she's way too young for him!" Ron said, which made both Hermione and Ginny annoyed with him.

They headed for the History of Magic challenge, which was a Magical Trivia game. Three students competed against each other to answer trivia questions, and the person with the most questions answered at the end earned ten points. The person with the second most earned five points, and the person with the least earned one point. You had to correctly answer at least one question to earn any points at all. Luna finished first against Ron and Ginny, while Hermione wiped the floor with Harry and Neville, who had joined them for the challenge.

"I don't think Professor Binns created that challenge." Hermione said. "In fact, the people running it looked like the employees from Honeydukes."

"Well, Binns is a ghost. I bet he wouldn't have understood what Dumbledore was asking." Ron said.

The Star Map Challenge for Astronomy was enchanting. A dome had been constructed, with the interior being completely dark, save for the glittering stars dotting the sky. The Challenge was to accurately place three constellations in the night sky. Harry only earned five points, as he couldn't remember the order of the stars in Orion's belt. Hermione was the only one to earn ten points, although Luna came very close, had she not switched the Little Dipper and the Big Dipper ("It looks better this way, don't you think?").

Only Hermione and Luna tried the Arithmancy Hopskotch Challenge, which took place on a field of tiles, each one etched with a numeral or arithmancy symbol. The object of the challenge was to hop from tile to tile in a certain sequence to get to the other side. Hopping on the wrong tile transported you back to the beginning. They both earned ten points, unsurprisingly.

The Muggle Studies line was surprisingly long. The Professor designed a Triathlon based on the popular Muggle sport. The Muggle Triathlon Challenge was a three-part race: running, swimming, and wall-climbing. The faster you were, the more points you earned.

The last challenge was Professor Trelawney's Mystic Doors Challenge. Harry and Ron decided to give it a shot, but found themselves in utter frustration. Students had to move through seven rooms, each one containing two doors. You had to predict which door led to the next room, and which one would transport you back to the entrance. Harry couldn't tell whether Ron had picked the correct door, since it shut quickly. He had to hand it to Sybil Trelawney: she'd chosen a tricky challenge. In the end, he only made it to the second room, and Ron, to his chagrin, didn't get through the first.

"Look on the bright side. At least she didn't write 'Dunce' over the loser's door." Harry said and that cheered Ron up considerably.

With no more challenges left, the group was rejoined by Neville, and they returned to the stalls to try some more games and buy some candy from Honeydukes. Around 7 o'clock, the stalls began closing and professors began to usher students back to the school. Harry noticed Remus and Sirius magically dismantling their challenge, and he and his friends went over to say hello.

Hermione, of course, saw this as an opportunity. "We saw Tonks earlier, Remus. Did she drop by?"

Remus' face paled, and he didn't meet her eyes. "Um… yes, she tried out the challenge before the students arrived."

Once again, Sirius' was giving him an annoyed look, but this time he also looked at Hermione and raised his eyebrows. She smiled back at him and he shrugged, resuming his work.

"That was cruel, Hermione." Ron said as soon as they were out of earshot. The six of them were making their way back to the castle.

"It was necessary, Ron." Hermione said.

"Yeah, his reaction said quite a few things." Ginny agreed.

"Like what?" asked Harry.

"I think Professor Lupin is fond of your friend Tonks." Luna said.

"He definitely is." said Ginny.

"Then why is Tonks angry with him?" Ron asked.

"Because even though he likes her, he's refusing to be with her." Hermione concluded. "And knowing Remus, it's for several reasons."

"Are you going to elaborate or should we just start guessing?" Ron asked.

"First, he's older than her. At least ten years." Ginny said. "Although he looks a lot older, doesn't he?"

"Second, he's a werewolf, and he thinks he's a monster because of it." Hermione said.

"And he probably doesn't want to pass on werewolf genes to any children." Neville added.

"And speaking of children, even if they aren't werewolves, he's probably afraid he'd hurt them." Hermione said.

"How do you do that? Figure people out so easily?" Ron asked, incredulous.

"Women's intuition." said Hermione and Ginny together.

"Um…" Neville cleared his throat. "I don't think I have that."

"You're just a good person, Neville." Harry said. "That's why you understand Remus."

* * *

Back at the castle, the students took their places at the House tables, eagerly waiting for Dumbledore to announce the winners of the first Challenge Cup as well as the House Cup.

Once everyone had filed in, Dumbledore began his speech. "First, I would like to thank all of the professors and others who helped design the thirteen challenges today, as well as the villagers of Hogsmeade, for their wonderful games and food for us to enjoy. This was a wonderful day indeed, and I was pleased to see you all enjoying it. A decision has been made to continue Games Day as an annual end-of-year tradition. For those of you who are not Seventh years will be able to enjoy Games Day again next year, and in years to come.

"Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for. It is time to tally up the points. In fourth place is Ravenclaw, with 1,133 points."

"Bloody hell! One thousand?" Ron's mouth fell open.

"Yes, Ron, do the math." Hermione said.

"In third place, Hufflepuff, with 1,260 points."

Both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw looked thoroughly disappointed.

"That leaves Slytherin and Gryffindor. In second place, with 1,347 points…"

Dumbledore waited a moment, allowing the whole hall to hold its breath. "Is Slytherin house."

Someone outside the hall might have thought there'd been an explosion as the Gryffindor House cheered.

Dumbledore gave them a moment to celebrate before finishing. "Yes, that means Gryffindor House is the winner of the Challenge Cup, with a staggering 1,486 points. Well done, well done." He held up a white gold trophy, which he then handed to a very proud McGonagall. Harry noticed that Sirius and Remus were both tremendously happy. As Gryffindors themselves, it was no wonder.

"Before we begin our End of Year feast, we do have one more order of business. The House Cup must be awarded. In fourth place is Gryffindor, with 156 points."

There were some angry murmurs at Gryffindor table, but at least they'd won the Challenge Cup.

"In third place is Hufflepuff with 246 points. And in second place, Ravenclaw, with 268 points. Which means Slytherin has won the House Cup with 439 points! Congratulations Slytherin!" Dumbledore clapped his hands, which changed the normal Hogwarts banners hanging from the ceiling to Slytherin banners.

Only the Slytherin House celebrated. The other three houses sat still and quiet. They hadn't forgotten how easily Slytherin had allied with the High Inquisitor. Even Snape didn't have a smug look on his face. In fact, he looked disgusted. But then, Harry noticed, only Flitwick separated him from Remus, who clapped politely for Slytherin, and Sirius, who was speaking quietly to McGonagall and ignoring the Slytherin's cheers entirely.

Dumbledore seemed to notice the bitterness amongst his students. "Now then, I'm sure you're all quite famished, so, if you please, dig in."

Somehow, even after five years, food magically appearing in front of you never gets old.


	8. Crystal Cottage

"You sure you'll be alright?" Sirius asked, unwilling to let his godson go.

They stood on Platform 9 ¾. Hermione and Ron had just left with their parents. Remus was a distance away talking to some of his former students.

"I've spent 15 years with them, Sirius. I'll be fine. Besides, they're afraid of you." Harry assured him.

"As they should be." Sirius said, chin raised regally. They both laughed. "Well, now or never, I suppose."

Sirius took Hedwig's cage and led the way through the barrier. The snowy owl looked none too happy.

"Don't worry, you'll love your new place, Hedwig. And Harry will join us in one week." Sirius told her.

"Thanks for taking care of her." Harry said gratefully. "The Dursleys hate letting her out of the house."

"She can fly all she wants. There's a small owlery in the attic, with a window for her to soar in and out. Right now it's just Remus' owl, Yorin. He'll appreciate the company." said Sirius.

"Are owleries common in wizard houses?" Harry asked.

"Actually, it's popular in France. Remus' cottage has one because it was built by a French wizard immigrant." Sirius stopped short. "That's them, right?"

Standing near the entrance of King's Cross Station were three people: Harry's aunt and uncle, and their son, Dudley. All three of them looked angry and terrified at the sight of Harry and Sirius walking up to them.

"And I suppose you'd be his mad godfather?" Vernon Dursley asked, looking Sirius over as though sizing him up.

Sirius was tall, and slowly regaining the muscular build he'd had before Azkaban. He wore dark jeans and a grey t-shirt, with a long black coat over it. His jet black hair was tied in a messy ponytail. Uncle Vernon, fat and stubby, wore a grey suit and tie, and was carrying a briefcase. The two could not have contrasted more.

"That's me." Sirius said, smiling evilly. He turned to Harry. "Got everything?" Harry nodded. "Right then, Dursley. I'll be picking him up at ten o'clock Sunday morning. I don't care if you're there, but he'd better be. Understand?"

"How dare-?"

"Fine." Petunia said sharply, interrupting her husband.

Sirius gave Harry one last hug, and then Harry followed the Dursleys to their car.

The week with the Dursleys felt long, but it wasn't unpleasant as usual. The Dursleys didn't bother him much, which was nice. Harry was allowed to leave the house as he pleased, as long as he returned before Dudley.

Uncle Vernon seemed to think it best not to upset Harry, afraid he might tell Sirius, and decided not to lock his trunk and things in the cupboard. Harry was able to start his summer homework and he could use his two-way mirror, which he used every night to talk to Sirius.

Dudley avoided Harry at all costs, somehow finding a friend's house to visit every day until Sunday. Aunt Petunia went about her daily business, mainly ignoring Harry but still leaving him a space at the dining table for meals.

It was Saturday when Harry came downstairs to find Aunt Petunia washing dishes. He stood in the doorway for a moment, but she didn't notice him. He cleared his throat, causing her to nearly drop the plate she was washing.

She turned to see him standing there. "Yes?" She asked suspiciously.

"Erm… I just wondered if… you wanted any help cooking dinner?" He said.

Aunt Petunia stared at him for a moment, confusion and suspicion in her eyes. After a minute, she opened a drawer and pulled out a potato peeler. "Here. I need six potatoes peeled."

Harry took the peeler and set to work, wondering why he was doing this. He supposed he want to try and reconcile with his mother's family before he left. He knew he'd be back next year, but after that…

Once he finished the potatoes, he chopped them to her specifications and set them to boil. He noticed Aunt Petunia was starting to use the word "please" with him, and he took that as a sign of respect, at least to some extent.

An hour later, Harry was setting the table in the dining room. He returned to the kitchen to bring the food to the table, and Aunt Petunia sent him upstairs to clean up before Uncle Vernon came home. As he finished changing shirts, he heard Dudley lumbering up the stairs. He opened his door just as his cousin walked by.

Dudley, of course, nearly jumped out of his shoes at Harry's sudden appearance.

"Calm down." Harry said, a little annoyed. "Have I ever done anything to you? Aside from existing?"

Dudley thought for a moment. "Th-the pigtail. And my tongue. A-and those demon things."

"You know as well as I do that I didn't give you the pigtail, and I didn't give you the sweet that engorged your tongue. And they're called dementors. They sap the happiness from you. The spell I used saved us from them."

Dudley stared at him dumbly.

"What I'm trying to tell you is I've never done anything to you, and I never will, even though I've got plenty of reasons to hex you."

"What reasons?" Dudley asked, fearful again.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe for all the times you broke my glasses. Maybe because you never let anyone be my friend in school. Maybe because you always got everything while I had nothing but a cupboard and a couple of socks." Harry said.

"Oh, yeah." Dudley stared at the floor for a moment before glancing up at Harry. He opened his mouth to speak.

The door downstairs banged open, and the two cousins heard Vernon and Petunia greeting each other.

"It's dinner time." Harry said. "You should wash up." He then left Dudley standing there, and went downstairs.

"Where's Dudley?" Petunia asked as Harry entered the dining room.

"Just washing up. He'll be down in a moment." Harry replied.

"Thank you." Petunia said without thinking.

They heard a clatter at the table, and both turned to see Uncle Vernon rubbing his hip where he'd just bumped the table.

"Are you alright, Vernon?" Petunia asked.

"Fine." He said gruffly, glancing between his wife and nephew. Harry wondered if he'd heard Aunt Petunia thanking him.

Dudley joined them at that moment, and they all took their seats.

It was the most pleasant dinner Harry had ever had at the Dursley's.

The next morning, Harry packed up the few things he'd taken out of his trunk, and around 9:30, he started to drag it down the stairs, which proved difficult. After struggling to get it down the first few steps, he noticed someone standing at the bottom of the stairs.

Silently, Dudley climbed the stairs. He reached out and lifted one end of the trunk, and looked up at Harry.

Harry smiled, and Dudley smiled back. Together, they carried the trunk down the stairs and to the front door.

"Thanks." Harry said, and Dudley just shrugged. He then went upstairs, but Harry didn't expect him to come down only moments later, carrying a small, wrapped gift, just bigger than his hands.

He held it out to Harry. "This is for your birthday. I know it's not for a couple weeks, but I didn't know how to send it to you."

Harry smiled and took the gift. "Thanks, Dudley. That means a lot."

Then Harry had a thought. Dudley's birthday had been a few weeks ago. He opened his trunk, and dug around until he found some of Honeydukes' best fudge. "I didn't get you a gift, but I think you'd like these." At the nervous look on Dudley's face, he said, "I swear nothing will happen. It's just fudge." He offered a piece to Dudley, who took it hesitantly.

Taking a bite, Dudley waited a moment before slowly chewing the sweet. He swallowed. "Wow, that's the best fudge I've ever tasted."

"Would you like the rest? I can always get more."

"Thanks, Harry. You know, you're not what dad's always calling you."

"What's that? A waste of space?" Harry closed his trunk.

Dudley frowned at the floor. "I don't think you're a waste of space." He said quietly.

Harry wasn't sure what to say to that. He sat down on his trunk and stared at the floor as well.

"Um…" Dudley shifted. "I should go put this away. I don't want Dad to see it."

"Yeah, right." Harry said. He checked the time on his watch while Dudley was gone. Sirius would be there in five minutes. Harry then remembered Dudley's gift. He picked up the box, which was square and less than a foot wide, and began to pull the wrapping off.

He couldn't believe what was inside. It was a small, round cake with chocolate frosting, and the words "Happy Birthday, Harry" neatly written in pink icing across the top. Harry felt a tear fall down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away.

The doorbell rang at that moment, and Harry closed the lid of the cake, setting it gently on his trunk. He gathered up the wrapping and threw it in the rubbish bin in the dining room. When he returned to the foyer it was to find Aunt Petunia had answered the door, and allowed Sirius to step inside.

"Harry! There you are!" Sirius was grinning from ear to ear, and Harry couldn't help but grin back. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." He said.

"Well, then, I'll take your trunk. You can carry this. What is it?" Sirius curiously picked up the white box.

"A cake, from Dudley."

"Really?" Sirius looked surprised, but he handed the box to Harry.

"Well, bye then." Harry said to Aunt Petunia.

"Bye." She replied. "You'll be back next summer?"

"Yeah." Harry said.

"Bye, Harry." Dudley said. Somehow, he'd descended the stairs without making a sound.

"See you." Harry replied.

With that, Sirius led Harry out of the house. They walked for a ways, before Sirius finally stopped on an empty street.

"I'd prefer to apparate." Sirius said. "But considering I haven't apparated with cargo in nearly 15 years, I thought it might be a bad idea. So, we're taking the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron. From there, we'll floo to Crystal Cottage."

"Alright, then." Harry said. "But couldn't we take a portkey?"

"There's an anti-portkey ward around the cottage. The only way to get there is to floo or walk up to it and I don't feel like getting wet today."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked curiously, but Sirius only held out his wand to summon the Knight Bus.

It snapped out of the air and stopped in front of them. The doors opened to reveal Stan Shunpike, whose mouth dropped open at the sight of Sirius Black and Harry Potter standing next to each other.

"Ernie! You won' believe oo's 'ere. Guess oo's riding the Knight Bus together?"

"Yes, yes. I'm Sirius Black, and he's Harry Potter. One-way trip to the Leaky Cauldron, please." Sirius lifted Harry's trunk up the steps and set it near a table with two chairs. Stan followed them, but Sirius managed to send him away again by paying him. Stan walked off to count the coins.

The Knight Bus took off without warning, and a few minutes later, Harry and Sirius were standing outside the Leaky Cauldron. Sirius ignored the looks from people dining inside, and led Harry to a private parlour.

"Tom offered us this private fireplace to floo from." Sirius said. "Which is good, because I need you to read this." He handed Harry a slip of paper, just as Mad-Eye had the summer before.

In neat print, it said: _Crystal Cottage can be found deep in the valley beyond Crescent Falls._

"The Crescent Falls?"

"I'll explain in a few minutes. Now that the location has been revealed to you, all you need to do is say 'Crystal Cottage' in the fireplace and you'll be there. Remus is waiting for you."

"Alright." Harry took a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace, still carrying the cake. "Crystal Cottage!" A moment later, Harry was coughing on the floor of an unfamiliar sitting room, with a very familiar face smiling down at him.

"Hullo." Harry said as Remus helped him stand up and cleaned the soot off him with a spell.

"Welcome home, Harry." Remus said. "This is Crystal Cottage."

Harry looked around. The interior of the cottage was like a fairy tale, quaint but magical feeling. Harry felt Sirius' description of it to be quite accurate. It was enchanting. He took a peek into the kitchen, and found that the muggle appliances blended perfectly into the old-fashioned wizarding equipment. He set his cake down on the table and returned to the sitting room.

"Wow, it looks like a fairy godmother should live here." Harry said.

"Well, that's what my ancestor was aiming for. He fell in love with a Muggle named Crystal, so he built a secret haven for her. They both lived here the rest of their lives." Remus explained. "He wanted her to feel enchanted every day of her life. My mother loved it here, too."

Sirius slid out of the fireplace just then, with Harry's trunk in tow.

"Scourgify." He said, and the soot disappeared from his clothes and the trunk. He looked up at Harry. "So what do you think so far?"

"It's brilliant!" Harry grinned.

"Wait 'til you see the outside." said Sirius. "Here." He waved his wand at Harry and a strip of cloth wound its way over his eyes, effectively blinding him. He heard Sirius speak from behind him. "No peeking. You're about to see the real magic of Crystal Cottage."

Harry heard a door open and felt his feet move from wood to what sounded like stone. He was turned around and the blindfold removed from his eyes.

"Wow." Was all he could say.

Crystal Cottage really was a fairy tale house. It stood in the center of surrounding cliffs in the distance, which formed a circular wall around it. There was a garden to one side of the cottage, full of plants both magical and mundane, that stretched behind it. A small well stood nearby. On the other side of the cottage was a pond, where a family of ducks happily swam in a line.

The stone path they stood on led straight out from the house, into the trees behind them. In the distance, Harry could hear a roaring sound. The rest of the area was covered in trees, forming a small forest that Harry suddenly ached to explore.

The house itself was breathtaking as well. While it wasn't covered in crystals like he'd expected, it was lovely. Standing two stories high, the architecture seemed inspired by early Rennaissance houses, with a visible timber frame of dark wood, a gabled roof, brick chimney, and wooden shutters framing the windows.

"I'd forgotten how beautiful it is." Remus said quietly.

"What?" Harry said. "Don't you live here?"

"This was my childhood home. But I haven't lived here since my mother died. It's hard to live here alone." Remus said. "I moved back in earlier this week, and I'm now the Secret Keeper. The Fidelius Charm is just one of the protections on the cottage, both old and new."

"Sirius said something about having to get wet to walk to the house." Harry said.

"He's right. You have to walk through a waterfall to get here." Remus turned so that the cottage was behind him. "Here that roar in the distance? It's Crescent Falls, a waterfall invisible to Muggle eyes, but beloved by the wizarding world. At the top of the falls is a crescent-shaped lake that never runs dry, but constantly pours water to the base of the cliff below. Crescent Valley is hidden behind that waterfall, and we're in the center."

Harry looked up at the open sky. "But couldn't you fly here?"

"Nope. There's a magical barrier that prevents anyone from entering Crescent Valley from the air." Sirius said. "Except birds, I suppose. Hedwig and Yorin can come and go as they please."

"So you either have to floo here or walk through the waterfall." Harry concluded.

"And with the Fidelius Charm, you'd have to be told the location by Remus. Without him, you wouldn't be able to see the entrance behind the waterfall, and you wouldn't be able to floo here, even if you knew it was supposed to be there, you can only see it if the Secret Keeper tells you." Sirius explained.

"You know, we haven't shown you the whole house yet, Harry." said Remus. "Let's go inside and we'll give you a tour."

Harry followed Remus and Sirius into the cottage. The downstairs of the cottage consisted of the sitting room, dining room, and kitchen as well as a lavatory and study. Harry felt as though he'd been miniaturized and was walking through a very intricate dollhouse. Everything from the doorknobs to the sofas looked handmade.

"You're great-great-great-grandfather built all of this?" Harry asked, incredulous.

"Michel Lupin was a carpenter, and a very skilled wizard." Remus said. "Like many wizard houses, the cottage is enchanted so that the wood never rots, and the walls never grow mold. It was built to last centuries." Remus led him to the staircase. "Now, follow me. I'll show you your room."

"This is my room." Sirius said, opening the first door on the left. Inside was a room bathed in light green, with a canopy bed in the center. "And across from me is Remus' room."

Remus opened the first door on the right, revealing a slightly larger room. It was decorated in violet and silver. "It was my parent's room, but Sirius convinced me to move my things to it."

"This is your house, Remus." Sirius said.

"It's our house now." Remus said. "Your room is next to Sirius'." He told Harry.

Harry open the second door on the left, and found a room that mirrored Sirius'. "Red for Gryffindor?" He asked.

"Of course. This is the room I lived in as a child. My father redecorated it when I joined Gryffindor house. I thought you might like it."

"I love it!" Harry said.

"Hmm… I think it's missing something." Sirius said. "Oh, right. Your things. _Accio_ trunk."

A moment later, Harry's trunk glided into the room and placed itself neatly at the end of the canopy bed.

"By the way, Hedwig is off hunting at the moment, but she should be back soon. You can go up to the attic later to see her. And you can meet Yorin." Sirius said.

"What's that room?" Harry asked, motioning towards the door across from his own.

"Guest room." Sirius said simply. "Maybe Hermione or Ron can stay there for the summer."

"Take some time to unpack." Remus said. "If you need anything, I'll be teaching Sirius how to use Muggle kitchen appliances without blowing things up."

Harry laughed as the two went downstairs, Sirius grumbling as he followed Remus to the kitchen.

Harry closed the door behind him and stood there for a moment. It was a lot to take in in one day. He'd known for several weeks now that he would be leaving the Dursleys to live with Sirius, but he'd never imagined something like this. Crystal Cottage was incredible. And he felt as though he'd only seen a fraction of the valley it resided in.

Finally, Harry took a few steps into the room and took in everything. The canopy bed took up the middle of the room, standing between two windows that overlooked the back garden. Below each window was a bedside table. On the right was a large wardrobe, and on the left, a desk, chair, and set of shelves.

It was perfect, Harry thought, as he opened his trunk (which looked bland next to the elaborate furnishings), and began to unpack. His clothes and robes went in the wardrobe, and his firebolt was propped next to it.

He stood all of his school books on his bookshelf in a random order. He could organize it later. His quill, parchment, and ink went on his desk, and his school notes in the desk drawer. All of his potions ingredients were already stored in a small chest, which he slipped underneath the bed.

He found a place for everything in his trunk, and pretty soon it was empty save for a few dustballs and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. Finally, he slipped the photo album Hagrid had made of his parents into the drawer of his night table, and placed his two-way mirror on top of the table.

"Harry! Supper is ready!" Sirius called.

"Coming!" Harry called back, and then he bounded out of the room and down the stairs.

This, he thought, was the best day of his life.

* * *

Percy was thankful to find the lift empty. He was heading to the Atrium to leave and was too tired to speak to anyone. He pulled a file out of his briefcase and scanned it. The lift paused at each floor, but no one was getting on. Percy wasn't surprised. It was very, very late. He'd worked a overtime tonight to help Fudge finish sorting through all of the new information they'd received from the Aurors.

Percy had been irritated by Fudge lately. The dumpy old Minister had invited Dolores Umbridge back to the Ministry after St. Mungo's released her. After hearing what she'd done to his siblings, Percy was no longer fond of her or Fudge.

"Level Six: The Department of Magical Transportation." said the guide voice as it stopped.

Percy, who was expecting the lift doors to close without anyone getting on, was surprised when his father stepped in next to him. Arthur Weasley did not greet his son, and Percy almost flinched at the silence between them. He had not spoken to his father in a year and the last words they'd exchanged were in boiling anger.

Percy looked at his father from the corner of his eye, pretending to read the file in his hand.

"Level 7: Department of Magical Games and Sports."

It would only take a minute for the lift to reach the Atrium. Percy tried to work up the courage to speak to his father, to say something, anything, even just "Hello".

He could do it. This was his father, after all. He'd spent his whole life talking to him. Their argument had been a year ago, and Percy was tired of the silence.

Just say hello, he told himself.

The lift stopped and Percy took his chance.

He took a deep breath and turned to his father, but the elder Weasley was gone, having bolted onto the Atrium floor before the guide voice had even spoken.

"Hello…" Percy said to the air as he watched his father walk away.


	9. Celebration

The summer seemed to fly by as Harry spent time with Sirius, Remus, and the Weasleys. Some days Ron and Ginny would floo to Crystal Cottage to spend time with Harry, and the three of them would explore the woods surrounding the house. They were forbidden to go near the waterfall, the only way in or out of Crescent Valley.

The first day they explored the area, they found a clearing large enough to play a small game of Quidditch. Upon hearing this, Sirius fashioned a tall hoop from a fallen tree, a project that took him nearly a day to complete. Once it was complete, Ron, Harry, and Ginny could play a free-for-all game together.

Most days, though, Harry would go to the Burrow, because Sirius had Auror training at the Ministry, and Remus had missions for the Order. He was often gone for days at a time, though he returned before the full moon.

Once, he came home covered from head to toe in bruises and scratches, but refused to explain how he'd gotten them. They were healed fairly quickly by Madam Pomfrey's potions, though, so Sirius and Harry didn't push the matter. Werewolf or vampire wounds wouldn't heal so easily.

Hermione spent every other weekend at the Burrow, which sometimes included visits to Crystal Cottage, which she fell in love with the moment she laid eyes on it. She milked every last detail about the history of the valley from Remus, and almost begged the others to go exploring, even though they'd trod down every path already without her. They obliged, even though they wanted to play two-on-two Quidditch instead, something they couldn't do without Hermione.

Although their days were full of fun and laughter, Harry knew the wizarding world's wasn't. Every morning, the Daily Prophet delivered new reports of deaths and people going missing. Fudge had been sacked, and replaced with a man named Rufus Scrimgeour, a hard man who was the Head of the Auror Department.

He led the Ministry in a military-like way, and was willing to work with the Order of the Phoenix in the war against Voldemort. The day after his appointment as Minister, pamphlets titled "Protecting Your Home And Family Against Dark Forces".

Sirius tried to keep Harry away from these things, but Harry still noticed things, such as the grave look Sirius had whenever he returned home from a day's work at the Ministry. It disappeared the moment Sirius would lay eyes on Harry, however, and his godfather didn't speak a word of things happening at the Ministry to him.

It was about a week before Harry's birthday that the Burrow received a visitor. It was raining outside, so Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were upstairs in Ron's room, playing Exploding Snap. Ron's hair was slightly singed, and Hermione was about to recite a spell to fix it, when they heard a shrill shriek below them.

The four teenagers jumped up and, wands at the ready, dashed down the stairs to the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley, the source of the scream, was sobbing now, and squeezing the life out of a rather tall young man with the same flaming red hair as all the other Weasleys. They all recognized him immediately.

"Percy." Ron said. They lowered their wands, but didn't put them away.

"Oh, you're back! I've been waiting… hoping… I always thought… Oh, Percy!" Mrs. Weasley finally released her son, who stared down at the floor.

"Mother… I'm…" Percy began. "I… Mum, I'm so sorry!" He pulled her into another embrace, which she gladly returned, and sobbed into her shoulder. "I was so stupid… and arrogant… you were right the whole time… all of you."

"Percy." Everyone jumped at the new voice. Arthur, who they hadn't noticed next to the sink, stepped forward. Bill, who'd been staying at the Burrow, stood behind him. Molly let go of Percy and Arthur reached out for him, holding him close. "We were never angry with you. Disappointed, maybe, but we love you and we are glad to have you back."

"Thanks, Dad. Thanks, Mum." Percy sniffed, and his mother handed him a handkerchief.

"Welcome home, Perce." Ron said, in a surprisingly gracious manner. Percy smiled widely at his two youngest siblings and the three of them hugged as well. Bill gave him a bear hug, before introducing him to Fleur Delacour, his fianceé, known to Ginny and Hermione as "Phlegm."

Finally, Percy took a step towards Harry. Harry wasn't sure what to do. He'd never received a hug from Percy before, so he held out his hand. But the third Weasley child seemed to have changed a bit, as he wrapped his arms around Harry for a moment, and then let go. He did the same with Hermione, before looking back at his parents.

"So, um… where have you been living?" Arthur asked, motioning for everyone to take a seat at the table. Everyone but Molly sat. She put some tea on and started to fix up some biscuits.

"I've got a flat in Diagon Alley, over on the East side. It's not very big, but it suits my needs." Percy said. "Where are Fred and George?"

"Erm… they've bought themselves a shop in Diagon Alley. It's got an apartment upstairs for the two of them." said Arthur.

Molly huffed. "They didn't even finish Hogwarts."

"Oh, come on, Mum. Everyone wanted to quit last year." Ron said.

"Well, maybe not quit completely…" Hermione said. "But Fred and George nearly finished the year. They just didn't complete exams."

"But a joke shop, honestly. They left to open a joke shop. Where did they even get the money?" Molly went on.

"Mum, Fred and George are clever." Percy said. "Consider all the times they managed to play pranks on all of us, without anyone ever knowing until it was too late. That takes some creativity."

Everyone stared at him for a moment. Finally, Molly sighed.

"I suppose I don't give them enough credit, do I?" Molly said.

"Percy's right." Arthur said. "Truth be told, I have a feeling they've been preparing to open a joke shop their entire lives."

"Remember when we went to Egypt, and they put beetles in Bill's soup?" Ron asked.

"I do." Percy said. "That sneakoscope you bought for Harry kept droning on. Not sure if you noticed, but Charlie actually took my book from me to try and smash it. It was driving him mad."

Everyone laughed.

"I didn't know that." said Ron. "He never mentioned."

"I saw it. Charlie only stopped when Percy said it was for Harry." Ginny said.

"And now we know…" Arthur said quietly. "Why it kept spinning."

Everyone froze, except Percy.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You don't know?" Ron cried.

Percy stared at him.

"Percy, I can't believe we never told you this…" Molly said.

"It's Scabbers…" Arthur said. "You see, your old pet rat, that you gave to Ron, was Peter Pettigrew."

Percy stared, his eyes wide with shock.

"Pettigrew is an animagus." Molly said quietly. "He takes the form of a rat. All those years everyone thought he was dead, and he was here all along."

There was silence for a moment as they waited for Percy to react.

He finally spoke. "Scabbers was… And I… I let him sleep in my bed and he was a… I gave my brother a murderer?!"

"Percy, it's not your fault." Arthur said, reaching across the table and grabbing his son's hand. Percy looked as though he might start hyperventilating.

"That's why the sneakoscope was going. Because Pettigrew was there, and he's untrustworhy." Percy said, making sense of things in his head. "But why us? Why did he have to live here?"

"He just wanted to find a wizard family." Harry said, speaking for the first time. "So he could keep up with the magical news and such."

"And he's… this man… is the reason Sirius went to Azkaban?" Percy ran a hand through his hair.

"Percy, no one but Pettigrew is at fault here. He wasn't a registered Animagus. Nobody, not even the Ministry, knew he could do it." Harry said.

Percy met his eyes, and, seeing that Harry wasn't angry or upset, he finally relaxed.

It did not help when a screaming sound came from the fire. Percy fell out of his chair at the noise.

"Oh! The tea's done." Molly bustled over to the pot and sent it to the counter to pour tea into seven mismatched teacups, which then floated over to the table.

"Thanks, Mum." Percy said, picking up his chair and sitting down again. Before taking a sip, he pulled out his wand and cooled his tea slightly. Seeing this, the underage witches and wizards in the room stared at him enviously.

He glanced at them, and with a wave of his wand, did the same to their teacups as well. They smiled at him, and he smiled back.

Several hours later, Sirius arrived to take Harry home, and they flooed back to Crystal Cottage.

Harry woke early on Saturday morning. He stretched and made his way downstairs to the kitchen, where Remus and Sirius were making breakfast. Sirius had finally mastered the toaster, and toast had become his main contribution to breakfast. Harry pulled down some plates, glasses, and silverware to set the table. He then poured orange juice into each glass. This had become their morning routine, and Harry quite liked it.

Remus sent eggs and bacon to their plates, while Sirius gave everyone toast. The three of them sat down and enjoyed the meal together.

"So, Harry," said Sirius. "What were you planning on doing today?"

"Homework."

Sirius nearly choked on his bacon. "Homework? Are you really James' son?"

"He's also Lily's, Sirius." Remus reminded him.

"Ron and Ginny have to clean the house with their mum, and Hermione's spending the weekend with her parents in Dublin. We just cleaned yesterday here, so I've got nothing else to do. Not as bad as usual, though. I don't have to do Snape's essay because I'm not taking Potions next year."

"Why not?" Remus asked, surprised.

"Because Snape requires an 'Outstanding' on the O.W.L.'s to continue into N.E.W.T.'s and I definitely didn't get that."

"Don't count your cockatrices before they hatch, Harry. You haven't gotten your scores yet." Sirius said.

"Sirius, I'm rubbish at potions." Harry assured him.

"Oh, come now. You can't be as bad as Remus." said Sirius.

Remus glared at him. "No need to be so frank about it." To Harry, he admitted, "It was the only subject I couldn't grasp. With Lily's help, however, I managed to pass both my O.W.L.'s and my N.E.W.T.'s."

"Go ahead and do your Potions essay." Sirius said. "If you don't need it in the end, well, at least you tried."

"If you need to do any research, there's tons of books in the study." said Remus.

Harry sighed. "Alright, I'll do it. But don't be surprised when I get 'Troll' on my O.W.L."

He stood up and cleared his plate, then headed upstairs to retrieve his books and notes, taking up Remus' offer to use the study.

He heard Remus behind him, "They should reconsider the scoring words. They're rather demeaning."

Harry leaned back in the surprisingly comfortable desk chair. He'd been in the study since breakfast, and no one had bothered him. This was a bit strange, considering both Remus and Sirius had the day off.

Normally, they'd have checked in on him a dozen times by now, offered him a snack or drink, asked if he needed help with anything, and Harry would have trouble getting rid of them. But today, he'd already finished his homework for Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts (which Professor Dumbledore had asked Remus to write up before the school year ended).

Harry glanced at the grandfather clock next to the door. It was nearly eleven o'clock, and he was a bit thirsty, so he decided to take a break. He got up and took hold of the doorknob, twisting it.

But it didn't budge. He twisted harder. Still nothing. He tried to turn it the other way, but it did not move. He pulled and pushed at the door but it refused to yield. Realizing he'd left his wand upstairs, and couldn't magic his way out, Harry scanned the room for another way out.

There was a circular window opposite the door, but it was too small for a person. But not for an owl. Hedwig, he thought, might still be in the owlery with Yoren. If he could send a note to Sirius or Remus, and they could help him get open the door.

Harry climbed up onto the table underneath the window, unlocked it, and pushed it open. He silently thanked Merlin as he prepared to whistle to Hedwig.

But at that moment, the study door swung open and Sirius appeared. Upon seeing Harry at the window, he raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Harry clambered off of the table. "The door was locked."

"And you thought you could fit through the window?"

"No, I was going to call Hedwig."

"Oh, is she a locksmith?"

"No, I - Hey, how did you get the door open anyway?" Harry asked.

Sirius said nothing, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, as though waiting for Harry to figure it out.

"You locked me in!" Harry said in disbelief. "Why?"

"So Remus and I could get everything ready." Sirius said. "Harry, don't you know what day it is?"

Harry thought for a moment, and then he remembered.

Sirius smiled and held out a hand. "Come outside with me, Prongslet. I've been waiting 15 years to do this for you."

Harry followed his godfather out the door, a little surprised at Sirius' sudden use of the petname 'Prongslet'. He'd never called him that before… or had he?

Sirius covered Harry's eyes with his hands and led him through the back door into the back garden.

As soon as his eyes were uncovered, Harry was bombarded by a great noise.

"SURPRISE!"

Harry's smile could not have been wider as he looked around at all the party guests. All of the Weasleys, including Bill, Charlie, and Percy, were there. Fleur was there with Bill. Ginny and Mrs. Weasley looked none too happy about this. Hermione was the first one to hug Harry, wishing him a happy birthday and then stepping to the side for Mrs. Weasley. Hagrid stood off to the side, waving and a little teary-eyed. Tonks was next to Remus, who looked nervous.

"Wotcher! Happy birthday, Harry!" Tonks said, squeezing Harry a little too hard. Harry noticed she was much happier than she'd been at Games Day.

"Fred, George, you leave your brother alone!" Molly shouted.

Everyone turned to see a rather pale Percy backed up against a table, and the twins glaring at him.

"Brother? He abandoned us, Mum!" said Fred.

"He doesn't deserve to be here." asked George.

Arthur stepped in. "Enough. I will not have three of my adult sons fighting. Especially not here. This is Harry's day, and you want to ruin it for him? Percy is your brother, and he already feels bad enough for what happened. You're not going to make him feel worse."

The twins, however, did not look very forgiving at that moment.

"Did you know Percy defended the two of you against your mother?" Harry asked, and everyone looked at him. "Mrs. Weasley wasn't too thrilled about your choice in jobs, but Percy defended you. He said you were both talented and had a real chance with your joke shop."

Fred and George turned to Percy.

"You really said that?" asked George.

Percy nodded.

"Perce, we didn't think-"

"Yeah, we were-"

"We're sorry." They said together.

"So am I." said Percy.

The three of them embraced and Molly cried tears of happiness, apologizing profusely. Remus handed her his handkerchief.

"So…" Charlie said. "We were having a party, right?"

Everyone laughed.

An hour later, after some delicious cake topped with a snowy owl figurine, Harry sat in a chair surrounded by gifts of every shape and size.

One by one, he opened the parcels.

Ron's gift was a Chudley Cannons scarf, which Harry put on for five minutes before it got too hot in the summer heat. Hermione gave him a book about advanced offensive and defensive spells. From Ginny, he received a coffee mug with a moving Quidditch player on it, and a jar of specialty owl treats for Hedwig.

Fred and George gave him a Skiving Snackbox. ("It'll be useful next year, with N.E.W.T.'s and all.") Tonks gave him a small magical camera, which would print moving pictures. Harry tried it out, snapping a photo of Sirius eating cake, followed by a photo of Sirius completely outraged. Harry quickly passed the photos to Remus, who slid them into his coat pocket. Sirius sat back, obviously plotting his revenge on his friend and godson.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley bought him an alarm clock in the shape of a Snitch. Charlie gave him a miniature Hungarian Horntail, and Harry wondered if it was the one he'd pulled out of the bag in his fourth year. Bill and Fleur gave him an Egyptian ankh that was supposed to bring good luck.

Hagrid's gift, thankfully, was not rock cakes or monster books, but a magical speedometer for his broomstick.

It was Percy's gift that surprised him the most. It was a small, square box. Harry opened the lid and was surprised to see a beautiful white gold ring, with an emerald in the center.

Harry looked up at Percy, who still looked a bit nervous.

"Perce, is there something you're not telling us?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, that looks like an engagement ring." said George.

"No, that's not-"

"Where did you find this?" Sirius asked. He held out his hand, and Harry passed the ring to him.

"That ring looks exactly like..." asked Remus.

"It's the engagement ring that Harry's father gave to his mother." Percy said. "I saw her wearing it in an old photo in one of Mum's photo albums, and I thought Harry would like to have it. So I got permission from the Minister to go to your parent's house. It's been kept in the state it was in after they died, and I was able to find the ring in a jewelry box upstairs."

"Thank you, Percy." Harry said, as Sirius, who had watery eyes, returned the ring to him. "This means a lot."

Sirius and Remus then gave him their gift: a photo album of the Marauders throughout Hogwarts.

"I know Hagrid gave you one of your parents, but we made this one of all the fun times we had in school." Remus said. "Your grandparents are in here as well, on your father's side, at least."

Harry hugged them both. It was a wonderful gift. Everything was. The party, the cake, the gifts. Harry knew he would never forget a second of today.


	10. OWL's and Alleys

"HARRY! COME DOWNSTAIRS! NOW!" Sirius shouted.

Harry clambered down the stairs at top speed, wondering what was wrong. As he entered the kitchen, he saw Sirius leaning against the counter, holding up an envelope. Through the window, he could see the dark outline of an owl flying away.

"You going to stand there all day or do you want to see your O.W.L. results?" asked Sirius.

Harry took the envelope and slit it open with a penknife Sirius handed him.

**Ordinary Wizarding Level Results**

_Pass Grades_

_Outstanding (O)_

_Exceeds Expectations (E)_

_Acceptable (A)_

_Fail Grades_

_Poor (P)_

_Dreadful (D)_

_Troll (T)_

_Harry James Potter has achieved:_

_Astronomy - A_

_Care of Magical Creatures - E_

_Charms - E_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts - O_

_Divination - P_

_Herbology - E_

_History of Magic - D_

_Potions - E_

_Transfiguration - E_

Harry stared at the parchment, unsure of what to say. He counted the passing grades. Seven O.W.L.'s wasn't bad, was it? Sirius moved behind him to read it as well.

"Outstanding in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Remus will be proud." His godfather said. "Seven out of nine O.W.L.'s. That's fantastic, Harry. Don't worry about Divination and History of Magic. They're pretty useless subjects, despite what Remus may say, and you don't need them to be an Auror."

"But I do need Potions." Harry moaned. He sat down in a chair. "Snape will never let me into his N.E.W.T.'s class with an 'Exceeds Expectations'."

"Like I said before, don't mark yourself out just yet. You never know what will happen. By the way, you've got other letters from Hogwarts."

Sirius passed him two more envelopes, one addressed in emerald green ink. There was no return address, but Harry knew exactly who'd sent it.

"Dumbledore's writing me?" He opened the letter and read it carefully. "He wants me to go somewhere with him on Friday, but it doesn't say where."

"Well, are you going to go?" Sirius asked.

"You don't mind?"

"Of course not. The safest place on Earth is wherever Albus Dumbledore is. You know that. Besides, adventures with that man always end with an interesting story to tell."

Harry smiled and whistled for Hedwig. Pulling out a slip of parchment, he quickly wrote 'yes' as his reply and attached it to Hedwig's leg, giving her an owl treat before she left.

The third letter was a reminder about the coming school year, as well as a new booklist.

"Remus will be back tomorrow night." Sirius said. "We'll be going to Diagon Alley with the Weasleys on Tuesday. Molly told me Ron and Ginny have been begging to see Fred and George's shop. But I think Molly is looking for a reason to get away from Fleur."

"Brilliant." Harry said, setting the envelope on the table. As he did, something small and shiny slipped out of it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sirius asked as Harry picked up the badge.

Tucked against it was a small note that said: "Dear Mr. Potter, Congratulations. You have been appointed Gryffindor Quidditch Captain."

"I'm the Quidditch Captain!" Harry cried, and Sirius picked him up in a great bear hug. When Remus returned the next day, it was with a small chocolate cake to celebrate Harry's new captaincy.

* * *

On Tuesday, Harry prepared to go to Diagon Alley with Remus and Sirius. After Sirius checked to make sure they all had their wands, Sirius scooped up some floo powder. They were flooing to the Burrow, and going to Diagon Alley with the Weasleys from there.

Sirius paused before stepping into the fireplace. "Are you wearing that ankh Bill gave you?"

"No." Harry said. "Should I be?"

"Go ahead and grab it, Harry." Remus said. "You never know. It could actually have magic of its own."

Harry decided not to argue and returned to his room to put the ankh on. He slipped it under his shirt so it was hidden, and then dashed back downstairs.

Everyone was in a frenzy at the Weasleys'. Four of the Weasley children were home: Bill, Percy, Ron and Ginny. Charlie had returned to Romania the day before, and Fred and George were in Diagon Alley. Percy had been visiting his parents often the past week. Fleur was also there, offering Harry, Sirius, and Remus tea, which they politely declined.

Mrs. Weasley was shouting at her two youngest children, who were still upstairs. Percy and Bill were talking quietly with their father. Finally, everyone was ready. Since there were so many of them, Arthur and Percy had set up a portkey that transported them to a private room in the Leaky Cauldron.

Fleur and Bill were the only ones staying behind, so the rest of them put a hand on the portkey, an old doll, and waited five seconds. Harry felt a familiar tug on his navel and a few seconds later he was lying on the floor of the Leaky Cauldron.

From there, they went through the brick wall to Diagon Alley.

Harry wasn't sure what he was had been expecting, but it hadn't been this. His heart sank. Diagon Alley had changed drastically. The once vibrant shops seemed to have dulled in color.

Shop windows were littered with Ministry of Magic posters, some bearing the same information as the pamphlets that had been passed out with the Daily Prophet, and others displaying moving black-and-white photos of known Death Eaters.

Windows were boarded up and some shops were closed completely. Shabby-looking stalls had been erected, each selling different kinds of anti-dark magic trinkets and amulets. Sirius steered Harry away from these.

"Let's start at Madam Malkin's." Mrs. Weasley said. "Oh, there's Hermione!"

The bushy-haired girl was running towards them at break-neck speed, Tonks right behind her. She tackled Ron and Harry in a hug.

"Hermione!" Tonks finally caught up. "Don't take off like that. It's not safe."

"Sorry, Tonks."

"Wotcher, you lot." Tonks greeted them. "I'm helping Hermione with her shopping. Diagon Alley isn't the place it used to be."

"You said Madam Malkin's, Molly?" Sirius asked. "We're too big a group to go in there all at once."

"He's right. We can split up." Arthur said. "You and I can take Ginny to Flourish and Blotts. Percy said he wanted to get some books, too. Sirius, Remus, and Tonks can take the other three into Madam Malkin's.

Mrs. Weasley was reluctant to let the others go, but Remus reminded her that two of them were Aurors and one of them a former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. This eased her a bit, and she bustled off to the book shop, an annoyed Ginny in tow.

Sirius led the way into Madam Malkin's. She greeted him like an old friend, and immediately set to work fitting Hermione, Ron and Harry for new robes. All of them had grown enough that their old ones were above their ankles. Sirius convinced Remus to buy some new robes, as well, to replace his old patched ones.

As they were paying for their things, the door opened, and in walked Draco Malfoy and his mother. Harry, Ron and Hermione all reached for their wands, but Sirius held up an arm.

Narcissa's eyes narrowed at Sirius, and they moved to Remus and then Tonks. Her eyes lingered on her niece a bit too long.

"Something wrong, Mrs. Malfoy?" Remus asked, stepping in front of Tonks protectively.

Narcissa ignored him, turning towards an assistant and snapping her finger at the girl. She gave her some instructions and the girl set to work measuring Draco's arms and legs. Draco said nothing, having received a warning look from his mother.

"Ow! Be careful!" Draco snapped, pulling his left arm away from the girl. She apologized profusely and looked on the verge of tears as Remus led the group out.

From Madam Malkin's, they went to the Apothecary to restock their Potions kits, though Harry and Ron were quite reluctant to. They visited Quality Quidditch Supplies, where Harry bought a new set of Quidditch gloves and goggles, as his were too small. After buying treats for their owls and Hermione's cat at the Magical Menagerie, they went to Flourish and Blotts.

The other four were there, having done their shopping already. Once Harry, Ron, and Hermione had bought their new books (Sirius forced Harry to buy a Advanced Potion Making), they ate lunch at a small cafe and made their way to the brightest and busiest shop in the whole Alley.

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was the exact opposite of the rest of Diagon Alley. Brightly coloured and with windows full of an assortment of goods that moved, revolved, popped, flashed, bounced and shrieked, it transfixed passersby, who stopped and stared. In the right hand window was covered with a gigantic purple poster, emblazoned with flashing yellow letters that read:

_Why are you worrying about You-Know-Who?_

_You should be worrying about U-No-Poo -_

_The constipation sensation that's gripping the nation!_

"They'll be murdered in their beds!" Molly whispered.

"It's just a bit of fun, Molly." Sirius said, a very impressed look on his handsome face.

He led the way into the shop, which was packed with customers. Harry could not get near the shelves. Boxes were stacked to the ceiling. There was so much to see. Skiving Snackboxes, trick wands, an assortment of quills, Reusable Hangman."

"'Patented Daydream Charms…'" Hermione read the information on the back of a box bearing a picture of a handsome youth and a swooning girl who were standing on the deck of a pirate ship. "'One simple incantation and you will enter a top-quality, highly realistic, thirty-minute daydream, easy to fit into the average school lesson and virtually undetectable (side effects include vacant expression and minor drooling). Not for sale to under-sixteens.' You know, that really is extraordinary magic!"

"For that, Hermione," said a voice behind them. "You can have one for free."

They turned to find Fred, dressed in magenta robes that clashed with his hair.

"Welcome to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes." He said, beaming. "Harry, how about a tour?" He pulled Harry away and steered him toward the back of the shop. "Muggle magic tricks, for freaks like Dad, you know, who love Muggle stuff. Not a big earner, but we've got a steady business. They're great novelties. Oh, here's George."

George shook Harry's hand energetically. "Come through the back, Harry, that's where we're making the real money - pocket anything, you, and you'll pay in more than Galleons!" he said warningly to a small boy who hastily whipped his hand out of the tub labeled Edible Dark Marks - They'll Make Anyone Sick!

George led him through a curtain next to the Muggle tricks and Harry saw a darker, less crowded room. These products were more subdued in color.

"We've just developed this more serious line," said Fred. "Funny how it happened…"

"You wouldn't believe how many people, even Ministry workers, who can't do a decent Shield Charm." said George.

"That's right. Well, we thought Shield Hats were a bit of a laugh, you know, challenge your mate to jinx you while wearing it and watch his face when the jinx just bounces off. But the Ministry bought five hundred for all its support staff! And we're still getting massive orders!"

"So we've expanded into a range of Shield Cloaks, Shield Gloves…"

"I mean, they wouldn't help much against Unforgivable Curses, but for minor to moderate hexes or jinxes…"

"And then we thought we'd get into the whole area of Defense Against the Dark Arts, because it's such a money spinner." continued George enthusiastically. "This is cool. Look, Instant Darkness Powder, we're importing it from Peru. Handy if you want to make a quick escape."

"And our Decoy Detonators are just walking off the shelves, look," said Fred pointing at a number of weird-looking black horn-type objects that were indeed attempting to scurry out of sight. "A good diversion if you need one."

"Handy." Harry said.

"Here." George tossed a few to Harry, who caught them and slipped them into his bag.

"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley." said a high-pitched voice.

They turned to a young blonde witch dressed in magenta robes like Fred and George. "There's a customer out here looking for a joke cauldron, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley."

"Right you are, Verity. I'm coming." said George promptly. "Harry, you help yourself to anything you want, all right? No charge."

"I can't do that!" said Harry, who was pulling out some galleons to pay for the Decoy Detonators.

"You don't pay here." Fred said, waving the galleons away. "You gave us our start-up loan. Take whatever you like. Just remember to tell people where you got it, if they ask."

Fred led Harry back to the main shop, where Hermione and Ginny were still pouring over the Patented Daydream Charms. Fred led the girls away to see the WonderWitch line, which included love potions, pimple vanishers, and pink and purple pygmy puffs.

George reappeared and the twins badgered their younger sister about her current dating status, which Ginny deflected.

"Oy, Ron, that's three Galleons, nine Sickles, and one Knut." George said.

"I'm your brother!"

"And that's our stuff you're nicking. Three Galleons and nine Sickles. I'll knock off the Knut."

"I don't have that."

"Then you best put it back, and mind you put it on the right shelves."

Ron swore and dropped the boxes on the floor, giving George a rude hand sign, which was unfortunately spotted by his mother.

"Do that again and I'll jinx your fingers." Molly said.

"Mum, can I have a Pygmy Puff?" Ginny asked.

"A what?" She followed Ginny to the cage of purring puffballs.

Harry looked around and spotted something outside the window. It was Draco Malfoy again, making his way up the street, alone. Harry pointed him out to Ron and Hermione.

"Wonder where his mummy is." Harry said.

"Must've given her the slip." said Ron.

"I hope you're not planning to do the same."

The three of them turned to find Sirius, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"No, not at all." Harry said, not very convincing.

Sirius took Harry by the arm and dragged him to a corner of the store, where no one could hear them.

"Harry, listen to me. You're not to step one foot outside this store without me, Remus, Tonks, or one of the adult Weasleys. Ron and Ginny do not count. Understand?"

Harry had never seen Sirius so… well… serious. "Yes, I understand."

Sirius let him go then, and allowed him to return to Ron and Hermione.

Ron didn't have money, having spent it on school supplies, but Harry passed him a few Galleons to spend at the joke shop. After everyone, except Harry, paid for their goods, they bid George and Fred goodbye and left the store.

"Hey, where's Tonks?" Hermione asked, noticing the absence of the metamorphmagus.

"Here! I'm here!" Tonks was running towards them.

Once she joined them, they went back to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Did she come from Knockturn Alley?" Ron asked.

"Looks like it." Hermione said. "Maybe she followed Draco?"

"Why, though?" Harry asked.

"He did look pretty suspicious." said Hermione.

Finally, they were back at the Leaky Cauldron, bidding Hermione and Tonks goodbye, who left through the front entrance, into Muggle London, where Hermione's parents were waiting for them. The rest of the group took the portkey back to the Burrow.


	11. Horace Slughorn

Friday morning, Harry packed his invisibility cloak, wand, and two-way mirror in his bag as Dumbledore's letter had instructed him. At Sirius' reminder, he hid the ankh under shirt.

At 10:30, he went down to the sitting room. Dumbledore had requested that they meet at the waterfall, so Sirius and Remus were walking him there. Stepping onto the path that led from Crystal Cottage, Harry breathed in the sweet-tasting air. They set out down the path, which was flat stone close to the cottage but became dirt further away.

Harry had never been very close to the waterfall before. The last part of the path was surrounded on both sides by weeping and Remus had both warned Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny not to pass this point. But today, Harry did not hesitate as he walked down the path.

Remus looked very much at home walking through the willows, his expression peaceful as he ran his hand through the gently flowing leaves.

The silence was broken by the roar of the waterfall, which could be heard as they entered a clearing. On the other side of the clearing was a cliff so high that Harry could not see the top, though he knew that Crescent Lake was at the very top, pouring over the other side of the cliff to form Crescent Falls.

At the base of the cliff was a cave, through which Harry could see the waterfall, which was so loud, he could hardly hear himself think.

Sirius pulled him back under the willows, and the sound of the falls disappeared.

"Why can't we hear it under the trees?" Harry asked.

"It's ancient Celtic magic. They planted these trees with enchantments." Remus said. "It is believed that the Celtic witches and wizards cultivated this valley to be a sort of hidden Eden, where one could meditate and be at peace with nature. Some believe they may have created the lake at the top of the falls in order to hide the entrance to the valley."

Harry hadn't realized just how magical the valley was. Remus must have had an interesting childhood, growing up in this place. The only place that probably held bad memories was the basement, where Remus sealed himself once a month, sometimes with Sirius, and transformed into a werewolf. Though the wards on the basement prevented Harry from hearing anything, he found it impossible to sleep knowing Remus was in pain.

At precisely 11 o'clock, they stepped back into the clearing and watched as a soaking wet Professor Dumbledore approached them from the cave entrance.

Harry was surprised when Remus and Sirius raised their wands. Remus muttered a few words, and strings of gold light burst from the end of his wand, looping and twirling in the air until they formed one word: _October._

Dumbledore did the same with his wand, and a second word formed below the first.

_October_

_Butterbeer_

Harry wondered vaguely if that had any meaning behind it, but Remus and Sirius seemed to accept it, and they invited him underneath the willow trees.

"I had forgotten how pleasant a place this was." Dumbledore said, admiring the surrounding trees. "Few magical places in the world have been preserved so perfectly. It is thanks to your family, Remus, that it has been kept safe."

"Thank you, Professor." Remus beamed at the compliment.

"Now, then." He turned to Harry. "As I said in my letter, I would like you to come with me on one of my errands. Judging by your bag and eager expression, you are ready to leave."

"Yes, sir." Harry said.

"Then let us pass through the waterfall. I hope you don't have anything made of paper in your bag, as I don't think it will survive the journey."

Harry and Dumbledore bid Sirius and Remus goodbye, and then made their way through the cave. Dumbledore walked straight through the water without a flinch, but Harry ducked his head to avoid the powerful downpour.

Harry was surprised when he stepped into a small pond only a foot deep. Dumbledore caught his confused expression and explained.

"This is one of the things that makes this place so magical, Harry." said the headmaster. "The lake at the top of the cliff is rather large, and it pours a large amount of water over the edge every second, but there is neither a lake nor a river at the bottom. Our greatest wizarding minds have yet to solve this puzzle, though I daresay we will discover it is something rather simple."

"Maybe the water goes right back up to the lake." Harry suggested. "The Celts could have enchanted it that way, right?"

"Indeed they could have. And perhaps one day you will be the wizard who learns how they did it." Dumbledore said. As they stepped onto dry land, Dumbledore waved his wand, drying them both. "Wand at the ready, Harry. And you have your cloak?"

"Yes, sir." Harry pulled out his wand. "But I thought I couldn't use magic outside of Hogwarts."

"If we are attacked, I give you permission to use whatever jinx or countercurse that may occur to you. Though, considering you are with me, I do not think you will be in danger today." Dumbledore said. "Have you ever apparated before, Harry?"

Harry shook his head. "You have to be seventeen to pass the test, right?"

"Indeed. Since this is your first time, hold tightly to my arm."

Harry took the arm that was offered to him, and noticed something wrong with the other. His right hand was blackened and shriveled.

"Sir, what happened to your-"

"That is a story for another time." Dumbledore said simply. "Ready?" Harry nodded, and the next thing he knew, everything went black.

He felt like he was being pressed from every direction. He could not breathe. His eyeballs were being forced back in his head and his eardrums were being pushed into his skull. An iron band was tightening over his chest and then -

He was suddenly able to take great lungfuls air and he stumbled away from Dumbledore. His body shook and he felt like vomiting. Once his breathing was back to normal, he stood and faced Dumbledore, who was waiting patiently.

"Sorry." He said.

"Don't apologize, dear boy. The first time is difficult for everyone. The feeling takes some getting used to." Dumbledore said, and Harry felt much better about it.

"I think I prefer brooms." Harry said. "Where are we?"

"This, Harry, is the charming village of Budleigh Babberton. We are here to visit an old colleague of mine." Dumbledore set off down the very empty street they had disapparated onto, at a faster pace than should be expected of a man his age.

As they made their way past the houses on either side, Dumbledore asked, "Sirius tells me your scar has not been hurting you as of late?"

Harry touched his forehead unconsciously. "No… and I've been wondering about that. I thought it would be burning, whatwith Voldemort gaining power."

He glanced up at Dumbledore, who looked satisfied. "I, on the other hand, thought otherwise. Lord Voldemort has finally realized the danger that your access to his thoughts and feelings poses, and he has begun employing Occlumency against you."

"Well, I'm not complaining." said Harry, and Dumbledore chuckled. "What are we visiting your colleague for?"

"As you know, Harry, I find myself once again short a staff member. We are here to persuade this colleague of mine to come out of retirement and return to Hogwarts."

"And how can I help with that?"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll find a use for you."

They made a right, then a left, and finally, they neared a small, neat stone house set in its own garden. "This is the place, Harry." As they approached the front gate, however, Dumbledore stopped dead.

The front door, Harry saw, was hanging off its hinges.

"Oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear."

After checking the street for signs of anyone else, Dumbledore opened the gate. "Wand out and follow me, Harry."

Harry followed Dumbledore up the garden path. The professor slowly pushed the front door open.

"Lumos." He said, and Harry followed suit, both their wand tips igniting.

They stepped into the sitting room. It was a scene of total devastation. Furniture was tipped over and upholstery lashed open. A chandelier lay shattered on the floor in the center of the room and a grandfather clock lay splintered, face cracked, before them. Dumbledore raised his wand higher, so its light shown upon the walls, where something darkly red and glutinous was spattered over the wallpaper.

Harry gasped, and Dumbledore glanced back at him. "Not pretty, is it? Yes, something horrible has happened here."

"Maybe there was a fight and - and they dragged him, Professor?"

"I don't think so." said Dumbledore quietly, peering behind and overstuffed armchair lying on its side.

"You mean he's -"

"Still here somewhere? Yes."

And without warning, Dumbledore swooped, plunging the tip of his wand into the seat of the overstuffed armchair, which yelled, "Ouch!"

"Good evening, Horace." said Dumbledore, straightening up again.

Harry's jaw dropped. Where a split second before there had been an armchair, there now crouched an enormously fat, bald, old man who was massaging his lower belly and squinting up at Dumbledore with an aggrieved and watery eye.

"There was no need to stick the wand in that hard." he said gruffly, clambering to his feet. "It hurt."

"What gave it away? Was the blood too much?"

"My dear Horace," said an amused Dumbledore, "If the Death Eaters really had come to call, the Dark Mark would have been set over the house."

"The Dark Mark," the wizard muttered. "Knew there was something… ah well. Wouldn't have had time anyway, I'd only just put the finishing touches to my upholstery when you entered the room."

"Would you like my assistance clearing up?" asked Dumbledore politely.

"Please." said the other.

The two of them waved their wands and suddenly, the upturned, ripped furniture returned to a standing position, sewing itself back together. The shattered pieces of the chandelier flew back to their places hanging from the ceiling, and the grandfather clock stood up, the cracks and splinters returning to their former state. The blood wiped itself from the walls.

"What kind of blood was that, incidentally?" asked Dumbledore.

"On the walls? Dragon." the wizard called Horace said. "My last bottle, too, and prices are sky-high."

It was then that his gaze fell upon Harry.

"Oho," he said, his large round eyes flying to Harry's forehead and the lightning-shaped scar it bore. "Oho!"

"This," said Dumbledore, moving forward to make the introduction, "is Harry Potter. Harry, this is an old friend and colleague of mine, Horace Slughorn."

Slughorn turned on Dumbledore, his expression shrewd. "So that's how you thought you'd persuade me, is it? Well, the answer's no, Albus." He turned away from Harry, as if trying to to resist temptation.

"I suppose we can have a drink, at least?" asked Dumbledore. "For old time's sake?"

Slughorn hesitated. "All right then, one drink." He said ungraciously.

Dumbledore directed Harry toward a chair right beside the fire. It seemed that Dumbledore wanted to keep Harry as visible as possible for some reason. And when Slughorn turned around with three glasses, Harry was the first thing he saw.

He looked away immediately and passed them both their drinks without looking at Harry, taking a seat on the newly repaired couch.

Dumbledore attempted to make small talk, and soon the two old men were caught up in conversation.

"I imagine the Death Eaters would want you to turn your considerable talents to coercion, torture, and murder." said Dumbledore. "Are you really telling me that they haven't come recruiting you yet?"

"I haven't given them the chance. I've been on the move for more than a year. Never stay in one place more than a week. Move from Muggle house to Muggle house - the owners of this place are on holiday in the Canary Islands - it's been very pleasant, I'll be sorry to leave. It's quite easy once you know how, one simple Freezing Charm on these absurd burglar alarms they use instead of Sneakoscopes and make sure the neighbors don't spot you bringing in the piano."

"Ingenious." said Dumbledore. "But it sounds a rather tiring existence for a broken-down old buffer in search of a quiet life. Now, if you were to return to Hogwarts -"

"If you're going to tell me my life would be more peaceful at that pestilential school, you can save your breath, Albus!"

"Oh, I've plenty of breath to spend on the subject, Horace." said Dumbledore.

Slughorn harrumphed and no one spoke for a few minutes.

Dumbledore stood up rather suddenly. "I wonder if I might use the loo?"

Slughorn gave pointed him in the direction of the bathroom and Dumbledore strode from the room. There was silence for a few minutes, until Slughorn spoke.

"Don't think I don't know why he's brought you." he said.

Harry simply looked at Slughorn, whose eyes studied his face.

"You look very like your father."

"I've been told."

"Except for your eyes. You have-"

"My mother's eyes, yeah."

"Ah, Lily. Lovely Lily. She was, I admit, one of my favorite students. I know teachers shouldn't have favorites but your mother was one of the brightest I ever taught. Lily Evans. Clever, vivacious, and charming. I used to tell her she should have been in my House, and I'd get back some cheeky answers."

"Which was your house?"

"I was Head of Slytherin." said Slughorn. "Oh, don't go holding that against me! You're in Gryffindor, like her, I suppose? Yes, it usually runs in the family. Not always though. Your godfather, Sirius Black, for example. The whole Black family had been in my house for centuries, but Sirius ended up in Gryffindor. A shame if you ask me. I got his brother, Regulus, when he came along, but I'd have liked the set."

Harry thought he sounded like an enthusiastic collector who had been outbid at auction.

"Your mother was Muggle-born, of course. Couldn't believe it when I found out. Thought she must be pureblood, she was so good."

"One of my best friends is Muggle-born," Harry said. "And she's the best in our year."

"Oh, you mustn't think I'm prejudice, no, no. Your mother was one of my all-time favorite students. And there was Dirk Creswell the year after her, too - now Head of the Goblin Liaison Office, of course - he was Muggle-born, a very gifted student, and still gives me excellent inside information on the goings-on at Gringotts!"

He showed Harry a collection of photographs on the dresser. "All ex-students, all signed. There's Barnabus Cuffe, editor of the Daily Prophet, he's always interested to hear my take on the day's news. Ambrosius Flume, of Honeydukes. Gwenog Jones, captain of the Holyhead Harpies. People are always astonished to hear I'm on first-name terms with the Harpies, and free tickets whenever I want them!"

"And all these people know where to find you, to send you stuff?" asked Harry.

The smile slid from Slughorn's face. "Of course not. I've been out of touch with everybody for a year."

Harry had the impression that the words shocked Slughorn himself. He looked unsettled for a moment, but then shrugged.

"Still… the prudent wizard keeps his head down in such times. All very well for Dumbledore to talk, but taking up a post at Hogwarts just now would be tantamount to declaring my public allegiance to the Order of the Phoenix! And while I'm sure they're very admirable and brave and all, I don't personally fancy the mortality rate -"

"You don't have to join the Order to work at Hogwarts." said Harry. "Most of the teachers aren't in it, and none of them has ever been killed. Unless you count Quirrell, but he got what he deserved seeing as he was working for Voldemort."

Slughorn shuddered at the name.

"I reckon the staff are safer than most people while Dumbledore's headmaster. He's supposed to be the only one Voldemort ever feared, isn't he?"

"Well, yes, I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has never sought a fight with Dumbledore." Slughorn muttered. "And I suppose not joining the Death Eaters marks me as an enemy of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, in which case, I might well be safer a little closer to Albus…"

Dumbledore reappeared at that moment, surprising both of them.

"Ah, there you are, Albus." he said. "You've been a long while. Upset stomach?"

"No, I was merely reading the Muggle magazines." said Dumbledore. "I do love knitting patterns. Well, Harry, we have trespassed upon Horace's hospitality quite long enough. I think it is time to leave."

Harry jumped to his feet, but Slughorn seemed taken aback.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes, indeed. I think I know a lost cause when I see one."

"Lost…?"

"Well, I'm sorry you don't want the job, Horace." said Dumbledore, waving his uninjured hand in farewell. "Hogwarts would have been glad to see you back again. Our greatly increased security notwithstanding, you will always be welcome to visit, should you wish to."

"Yes… well… very gracious… as I say…"

"Good-bye then."

"Bye." said Harry.

They were at the front door when there was a shout from behind them.

"All right, all right, I'll do it!"

Dumbledore turn to Slughorn.

"You'll come out of retirement?"

"Yes, yes. I must be mad, but yes."

"Wonderful. Then I shall see you on the first of September."

"I daresay you will." said Slughorn. "I'll want a pay raise!" He called to them.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Well done, Harry." He said as they set off back down the hill.

"I didn't do anything."

"Oh yes you did. You showed Horace exactly how much he stands to gain by returning to Hogwarts. Did you like him?"

"Er…"

"Horace likes his comfort. He also likes the company of the famous, the successful, and the powerful." Dumbledore explained. "He enjoys the feeling that he influences these people. He has never wanted to occupy the throne himself; he prefers the backseat - more room to spread out, you see. He used to handpick favorites at Hogwarts, sometimes for their ambition or their brains, sometimes for their charm or their talent, and he had an uncanny knack for choosing those who would go on to become outstanding in their various fields. Horace formed a kind of club of his favorites with himself in the center, making introductions, forging useful contact between members, and always reaping some kind of benefit in return, whether a free box of his favorite crystallized pineapple or the chance to recommend the next junior member of the Goblin Liaison Office."

Harry had a sudden mental image of a great swollen spider, spinning a web around it, twitching a thread here and there to bring its large and juicy flies a little closer.

"I tell you all this," continued Dumbledore. "Not to turn you against Horace - or, Professor Slughorn - but to put you on your guard. He will undoubtedly try to collect you, Harry. You would be the jewel of his collection 'the Boy Who Lived'... or, as they call you these days, 'the Chosen One.'"

Dumbledore stopped walking. "This will do, Harry. If you will grasp my arm."

Harry took hold of Dumbledore's left arm and braced himself for the unpleasant feeling. When the pressure disappeared, he noticed they were back at Crescent Falls.

"Before we step through the waterfall once again, I would like a word with you, Harry." Dumbledore said.

They stepped close to the roaring water, but Dumbledore placed a charm around them so they could hear each speak, though someone on the outside could not.

"I trust you know that nobody has been told the full contents of the prophecy?"

"Actually, I was wondering about that - everyone seems to know that I'm the chosen one-"

"They do not, actually. But many have guessed, quite correctly, that Voldemort was trying to steal a prophecy that night, and that it had to do with the two of you. Now, have you told anybody the full contents of the prophecy?"

"Well, I…"

Dumbledore smiled. "It is fine, if you have. I believe your two guardians, as well as Miss Hermione Granger and Mr. Ron Weasley ought to know."

"I told all four of them." Harry admitted. "But just them."

"A wise decision. They are the people you trust the most, and they will keep your secret as well. Now, on a related subject, it is my wish that you take private lessons with me this year."

"Private - with you?" said Harry, surprised. "What will you be teaching me, sir?"

"Oh, a little of this and a little of that." Dumbledore said airily.

"So if I'm taking lessons with you, will I still have to take Occlumency lessons?"

"No, you will not have time."

"Good, because they were…"

"I think 'fiasco' would be the right word here."

Harry laughed.

"Now, I think we should get you back to Crystal Cottage before your godfather comes charging through the waterfall."


	12. The Slug Club

The last week of August arrived sooner than Harry expected. He had, thankfully, finished all of his summer work, and spent the last few days combing through his new school books and perfecting his Quidditch moves with Ron and Ginny. Hermione spent her last few weeks of summer with her parents in Germany, so they were planning to meet her at Platform 9 ¾.

Sirius passed his Auror test on the first try, much to Tonks' chagrin, and he was given the last two weeks of August off, his first mission would begin in September. Harry wondered why it had to wait until September, but he was grateful that Sirius would be there to see him off at Platform 9 ¾. It would be the first time he ever had family there, without having to be in disguise.

Finally, the last day of summer was here. Harry went around the house, collecting his books, supplies, robes, and socks. Remus kept the cottage tidy, when he was here, but he was currently on a mission for the Order.

Sirius helped him pack everything in his trunk, and Harry learned he was surprisingly good at folding laundry.

"Your grandmother taught me some basic housekeeping. The only thing I could never grasp was cooking."

"Well, I daresay you're an expert on the toaster." Harry said, receiving a bark of laughter.

Instead of dragging the trunk downstairs, Sirius used magic levitate it. Harry carried his broom downstairs, and retrieved Hedwig's cage from the tiny owlery in the attic. The snowy owl looked miffed at this.

"We're going back to Hogwarts tomorrow, remember?" Harry said, and Hedwig seemed to accept this. Harry gave her an owl treat before heading back downstairs.

"That's everything." Harry said.

Sirius set Harry's book bag on top of the trunk. "Good. Now we won't have to do this in the morning. To make it to King's Cross tomorrow, we'll have to be up early, so… dinner, shower, and bed. We're leaving at 9 o'clock sharp."

* * *

Harry's Snitch alarm clock woke him at eight the next morning, and he jumped out of bed, getting ready and grabbing some last minute things, the Snitch clock included. He packed these into his trunk downstairs, and then went to the kitchen to find Sirius pouring cereal for both of them.

After they ate, they went to the sitting room, where Sirius picked up an old sock.

"We're taking a portkey to the Leaky Cauldron again. And from there, a Ministry car will take us to King's Cross Station." Sirius said.

"Why is a Ministry car taking us?" Harry asked.

Sirius quirked an eyebrow. "Because you, Prongslet, are the most important person to the Ministry right now. They want to feel like they're doing something to protect you, so Scrimgeour offered us a ride."

"And you accepted?" Harry asked, surprised that Sirius hadn't fought the special attention.

"If you had met this man, I think you'd understand how difficult it is to say no. Besides, he gave me my job. Mad-Eye oversaw my training, but before he was Minister, Rufus was Head of the Auror Department. I wasn't about to insult him by refusing something like this. Besides, it saved me the trouble of coming up with a way to get you to King's Cross."

This made quite a bit of sense so Harry didn't argue it.

"Now, come on then. This portkey won't work inside the valley. We've got to go through the valley before it will activate." Sirius said. He levitated the trunk again and they set off down the path, through the willows and the under the waterfall.

Like Dumbledore, Sirius waved his wand to dry them and Harry's things. A moment later, the old sock began to glow. Sirius grabbed the trunk, while Harry held onto his bag, broomstick, Hedwig's cage. They both took hold of the old sock. Harry felt a tug at his navel, and a moment later, they were in the Leaky Cauldron. Tom met them and escorted them outside to where a slim black car was awaiting them.

The driver helped them load Harry's things into the boot, and they set off down the road. The car drove fast, and wove past the other vehicles on the road, but none of the Muggles seemed to notice.

At King's Cross station, the driver retrieved a trolley for Harry, and loaded his trunk, broom and owl cage onto it. A tall, blonde man dressed in a Muggle suit stepped towards them. Harry looked at Sirius questioningly.

"Auror escort. They wanted one more besides me." Sirius said. He turned to the other man and greeted him. "Morning, Nigel."

Sirius received a smile and a nod in return.

Harry walked between Nigel and Sirius, who seemed unnaturally quiet in the presence of a fellow Auror.

Sirius went with Harry through the barrier, and Nigel walked right behind them. As Harry made his way through the crowd, he spotted a familiar group of redheads.

"Harry!" cried Hermione, who gave him a big hug. Ron and Ginny joined them a moment later. Harry forgot about Nigel for a moment at the sight of his friends. Mrs. Weasley squeezed him tightly.

"Oh, I'm going to miss all of you." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Molly, the train leaves in ten minutes." Mr. Weasley reminded her.

"Well come on, then. Let's get your things on the train." Sirius said. Nigel helped them pull their trunks into an empty compartment, and they stepped off to say their final goodbyes.

Sirius pulled Harry into a warm embrace.

"I know we've only lived together for a couple months," said Harry. "But it feels like we've always been together."

"I know what you mean." Sirius said.

"I'll miss you, Padfoot."

"Don't worry, Prongslet. You might see me sooner than you think." Sirius pulled away then, and urged Harry onto the train, leaving Harry to contemplate what his godfather just said.

Neville and Luna had joined them in their compartment, and Harry sat down with them.

Everyone reached out the window to wave goodbye to their families. Once the platform was out of sight, they sat down.

Ron and Hermione had to spend the first part of their journey with the Prefects, but they promised to be back as soon as possible. Ginny left for a while to find her some of her friends.

In the meantime, Neville, Harry, and Luna discussed their summers, played Exploding Snap, and snacked on some treats they bought from the trolley lady. Finally, Ron and Hermione returned, and the compartment became a little more lively.

As the early afternoon wore on, Harry found himself thinking about the coming school year. He had quite a few things to think about. He was now the Quidditch captain. He'd be having private lessons with Dumbledore. His courses would be much tougher than they were before, but he thankfully was able to drop some. Then, there was Draco Malfoy. He'd been very suspicious in Diagon Alley, and Harry had a feeling he knew what was on his left arm.

A few minutes later, Harry added one more thing to his list.

Slughorn.

A third year girl slid the door open and hand Harry and Neville each a scroll of parchment.

Harry read his aloud:

_Harry,_

_I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor H. E. F. Slughorn_

Harry led the way to Slughorn's compartment with Neville at his heels. When they arrived, they saw they were not Slughorn's only invitees.

"Harry, m'boy!" said Slughorn. "Good to see you, good to see you! And you must be Mr. Longbottom!"

Neville nodded, looking scared. Harry glanced around at the other guests. He recognized a Slytherin from their year. There were two seventh year boys he did not know, and, squashed in a corner next to Slughorn and looking as though she were not entirely sure how she'd got there, Ginny.

Slughorn introduced the Slytherin, Blaise Zabini, and the two seventh years as Cormac McLaggen and Marcus Belby.

"-and this charming young lady tells me she knows you!"

Ginny grimaced at Neville and Harry.

Slughorn pulled out his lunch and started to chatter away with each of the guests. He quickly lost interest in Belby, and moved the conversation to McLaggen, whose father knew some important people in the Ministry.

When Slughorn passed around a tray of pies, Belby somehow missed out.

Just as Harry suspected, everyone here seemed to have been invited because they were connected to somebody well-known or influential - everyone except Ginny. Zabini turned out to have a famously beautiful witch for a mother. Neville, whose parents had been well-known Aurors before being tortured to insanity when Neville was only a baby, was interrogated next. Slughorn seemed to be reserving judgement on Neville, waiting to see if he had his parents' flair.

Then Slughorn turned to Harry. He began to talk about the night Harry's parents were killed. "After that terrible night - Lily and James - and you survived - and the word was that you must have powers beyond the ordinary -"

Zabini gave a tiny little cough that was clearly supposed to indicate amused skepticism.

"Yeah, Zabini, because you're so talented… at posing…" said an angry voice from behind Slughorn.

"Oh, dear!" chuckled Slughorn, looking around at Ginny. "You want to be careful, Blaise! I saw this young lady perform the most marvelous Bat-Bogey Hex as I was passing her carriage! I wouldn't cross her!"

Slughorn almost immediately went back to Harry, and eventually meandered off into a reminiscence about Gwenog Jones, which was followed by many more anecdotes, until finally, Slughorn noticed the sky darkening outside.

"Good gracious, it's getting dark already! I didn't notice that they'd lit the lamps. You'd better go and change into your robes, all of you. McLaggen, you must drop by and borrow that book on nogtails. Harry, Blaise - any time you're in passing. Same goes for you, miss." He twinkled at Ginny. "Well, off you go, off you go!"

Harry and Zabini shot each other nasty looks as they pushed past each other.

"I'm glad that's over." said Neville. "Strange man, isn't he?"

"Yeah. How'd you end up there, Ginny?"

"He saw me hex Zacharias Smith." Ginny said. "He kept on asking me about you and it got so annoying I hexed him - when Slughorn came in I thought I was going to get detention, but he just thought it was a great hex and invited me to lunch. Mad, eh?"

Harry laughed. "Better reason than because their mother is really pretty. At least Neville's parents were famous for actually doing something."

"Yeah, but I don't expect I'll be invited by Slughorn again." said Neville.

"Who cares?" Ginny said. "He seems pretty full of himself."

Harry shrugged as they went back to their compartment where Ron, Hermione and Luna were waiting, already dressed in their robes. They put on their own robes and ten minutes later, Hogwarts swam into view.

They exited the train and Harry stopped short before the carriages. There were several Aurors standing on the platform, watching the students stepping off the train and scanning the crowd carefully. Harry recognized two of them: Tonks and Sirius.

As the crowd thinned, Harry caught Sirius' eye. His godfather waved and made a sign with his hands, as though he were holding a mirror. Harry nodded and turned back towards his friends.

"Well, now I know what Sirius' first mission is." Harry said, suddenly lighthearted at the thought of his godfather being so close.

"So he's one of the Aurors guarding Hogwarts, and Tonks, too." Hermione said.

"Come on, there's one more carriage left." Ginny said. They climbed onto the last carriage, and the seemingly horseless carriages began moving by themselves.

"So these are pulled by Thestrals?" Asked Ron, who could not see them like Harry, Luna and Neville.

"Yeah." said Neville. "I've always been able to see them, and a little scared of them, honestly."

"They're very gentle creatures." Luna said whimsically. "But many fear them because of their connection to death."

"I think they're fascinating. But I do wish I could see them." Hermione said, and then, realizing what she'd said, she added: "Not that I want to see someone die -"

"It's okay, Hermione." Harry and Neville said together.

The carriages stopped in front of the school's main entrance, and the students filed into the Great Hall and to their House tables. They watched the Sorting, and Harry chuckled at Ron's comment on how small the first years were.

After the Sorting, Dumbledore stood for his speech.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Before we begin the feast, I have a few announcements. As you know, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining in strength." There were murmurs and gasps throughout the hall. "I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, and we are protected in new and more powerful ways. As part of this new security, the Ministry has stationed Aurors around the school. I advise you all not to bother these hard working men and women, as they will be guarding us day and night. Their presence here is not to be taken lightly. However, we must still guard against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them - in particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious inside or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff or an Auror immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with utmost regard for your own and others' safety."

"On another note, I am pleased to welcome Professor Horace Slughorn to our staff this year. He will be returning to his former post as Potions Master." There was very little applause for the new teacher. "And our own Professor Snape will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts." Only Slytherin House cheered for Snape, who looked rather smug. "And now, let the feast begin."

The food was wonderful, and Harry ate plenty. He barely had room for some treacle tart for dessert. When the dishes cleared away, Dumbledore bid them goodnight, and Harry followed Hermione and Ron to Gryffindor tower, through the portrait hole and up to his bed, where he lay down for a moment, eyes closed, and thought about all the events of the day, the summer, and the year before.

Harry suddenly remembered his godfather, and he quickly pulled his two-way mirror from his bag. Not wanting to wake his roommates, he snuck down to the empty Common Room and took a seat by the fire.

"Sirius." He said.

Almost immediately, his godfather's handsome face appeared in the mirror.

"Hey, Prongslet. How was the feast?"

"Delicious, as usual. Though Dumbledore's speech was a little dark. Where are you right now?"

"My quarters, which I share with Nigel. He and I are partners now."

"The stiff Auror from the train station?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Stiff?" asked a voice in the background.

Sirius laughed. "I did just say I share a room with him, right?"

Harry grimaced, embarrassed.

"Don't worry, he's only like that on the job." said Sirius. "I mean, he's got two young daughters. He's not allowed to be tough all the time."

Harry heard Nigel laugh in the background. "What can I say, those two stole my heart when they were born."

Harry smiled. "So, will you be here the whole year?"

"Yeah, it's a long-term mission. Tonks will be here, too."

"Speaking of Tonks," said Nigel. "Doesn't she fancy that Lupin fellow? He's your friend, yeah?"

"Careful how loud you say that. I don't want her storming in here and hexing us both." Sirius said to the side of the mirror. "And yes, he's my best friend, and I don't know how you noticed what was going on between them." He turned back to the mirror. "Anyways, Harry, we should both go to bed. You've got class first thing and Nigel and I have guard duty in five hours. We're on a rotation. Six hours on duty, six hours off. It's up to us what we do with our free time, but we aren't allowed to leave the school grounds."

"Well, good night, Padfoot." Harry said.

"Night, Prongslet." Sirius said.

Just as Sirius disappeared from the mirror, Harry heard Nigel say, "That's adorable."

Harry felt slightly embarrassed at Nigel's comment about their pet names, but quickly brushed it from his mind as he made his way back to bed. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.


	13. The First Week

The next day at breakfast, Harry, Ron and Hermione had to wait for Professor McGonagall to give them their new schedules. It was a bit more complicated this year, as Professor McGonagall had to check that they'd earned qualifying grades on their O.W.L.'s in order to continue the classes they'd applied for.

Hermione was immediately cleared for Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Potions, and shot off to first period Ancient Runes without a word.

Neville took a bit longer, but in the end, he was cleared for Charms instead of Transfiguration, albeit a little heartened by Professor McGonagall's comment about his grandmother failing Charms.

Sirius had forced Harry to apply for Potions, and McGonagall informed him that Slughorn took 'Exceeds Expectations' in his N.E.W.T.'s. Harry wondered if Sirius had known about Slughorn from the start of the summer, and decided to ask him later about it.

In the end, his schedule included Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Transfiguration, and Potions - all classes needed to become an Auror.

Harry and Ron had a free period first, so they made their way to the stairs to return to the Common Room. But in the Entrance Hall, Harry saw Sirius, dressed in dark Auror robes, and conversing with Nigel. Harry and Ron nearly ran to talk to Sirius.

Sirius immediately looked apologetic. "Sorry, but I can't talk to you while I'm on duty. You have a free period after break?" Harry checked his schedule. "Excellent, I'm off during that time, so meet me down here, yeah?"

A little crestfallen but looking forward to spending time with Sirius later, Harry followed Ron to the stairs.

"Didn't expect that." Ron said. "He sort of brushed you off, didn't he?"

"Yeah, I suppose he's just taking his job seriously." Harry said.

"Who was that other bloke with him? I remember seeing him at the train station." asked Ron.

"That's Nigel. He's Sirius' partner."

"Didn't know Aurors had partners."

"Neither did I."

They reached the Common Room then and clambered through the portrait hole. There were only a few seventh years seated nearby, including Katie Bell, who congratulated Harry on his captaincy.

"Let me know when you hold tryouts." she said.

"What? You don't have to try out. I've seen you play for five years." Harry said.

"No, you can't do that. You have to give everyone a fair chance. For all you know, there could be someone better than me out there. It's a common mistake that captains make, playing the same old faces… letting in their friends."

Harry noticed Ron looked a bit nervous at Katie's comment, but he ignored it. He was inclined to agree with Katie. She had a fair point, though he knew Katie was likely to beat all the competition at the tryouts.

An hour later, Ron and Harry made their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry wasn't particularly looking forward to this class. Snape hated him, and the feeling was quite mutual. The classroom was darker, and portraits of people in excruciating pain lined the walls. Snape started them on nonverbal spells, and although Harry and half the class had spent the previous year practicing jinxes and Shield Charms, casting them without saying anything was difficult. Unsurprisingly, Hermione was the only one to achieve it.

After Defense Against the Dark Arts was break, and Harry nearly ran to the Entrance Hall to meet Sirius, while Ron stayed in the Common Room, attempting to begin Snape's essay. Sirius was there, as promised, no longer dressed in his Auror robes and looking much more relaxed than before.

He greeted Harry with a grin and a hug, and they took a walk on the grounds.

"How are your classes so far?" Sirius asked, walking side by side with Harry.

"I've only had Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was terrible. Though I did cast a fantastic Shield Charm when Snape tried to jinx me."

Sirius stopped. "He tried to jinx you?"

"He was demonstrating casting a nonverbal spell, and I was the guinea pig."

Sirius snorted and started walking again. "I'd give him a talking to, but I think that'd just make it worse."

"You're probably right." Harry said, very surprised that Sirius was thinking so rationally about Snape.

Sirius changed the subject. "What have you got after lunch?"

"Potions with Professor Slughorn." Harry had told Sirius all about his trip with Dumbledore to meet Slughorn, and Sirius had not seemed surprised in the least. Now, he realized, was his chance to ask him about it. "Did you know Slughorn would be teaching Potions this year?"

"Aye. Dumbledore told me. He asked me if I minded you going with him to help convince the old codger to come back. I had no qualms about it." Sirius told him. "Slughorn was my Potions teacher, too. He was considerably disappointed I wasn't in his House, but I was more than happy where I was. He especially favored your mother, you know. Even without that scar, I'm sure he'd take interest in you."

"So you weren't in his group of favorites?" Harry asked.

"First few years, yeah. But it all got so boring I just stopped going. Besides, James teased me endlessly about being a teacher's pet. Slughorn took offense to this and started ignoring me in Potions class, which was fine by me." said Sirius. "Gave me enough space to help Remus when Lily couldn't."

"Is Remus really that bad at Potions?"

"Well, he got better, but in First Year, explosions in our class were quite common thanks to him."

"Sounds like my friend, Seamus. Seems every time he tries to do anything, it blows up in his face."

Sirius laughed. The two of them kept talking, wandering around the grounds for the better part of the hour, until the bells rang in the castle, signalling it was lunch time.

Harry asked Sirius where the Aurors ate.

"We've got our own small wing of the castle, with a Common Room, a kitchen and dining room, and some office space to work in. I'm headed there to try to sleep some." At Harry's apologetic face, he added, "You aren't keeping me up, Prongslet. I've just been up since four this morning. I slept some before I came down here."

Harry said goodbye to Sirius and entered the Great Hall. Hermione and Ron were already there. Hermione was reading a book while munching on some chicken, but Ron was giving his full attention to his plate. Harry sat down next to Ron and across from Seamus, who looked nervous.

"All right there, Seamus?" Harry asked, serving himself a sandwich.

"Ah… um… Harry…" Seamus glanced at Dean for help.

"Seamus was practicing nonverbal spells in our dorm room, and he roasted one of your books on accident." Dean explained. "We think it was Advanced Potion-Making."

"I'm really sorry, Harry." said Seamus.

"Oh, don't worry Seamus." Harry said. "I can get another one."

"But you need it this afternoon, Harry." said Hermione, who'd looked up from her book. "What are you going to do?"

"I'd lend you mine," said Seamus. "But I don't have Potions anymore."

Harry sighed. "I'm sure Slughorn's got some extras."

"If he doesn't, we can share." said Ron.

After lunch was another free period, which the three of them spent in the Common Room working on Snape's essay. Ron hadn't had much of a head start, and they needed a lot of help from Hermione to finish it.

On their way to Potions a bit later, Jack Sloper, one of the Beater's on last year's Gryffindor Quidditch team, caught up to them and handed Harry a scroll of parchment. Dodging Sloper's questions about tryouts, Harry ran to catch up with Hermione and Ron. He read the emerald green words.

_Dear Harry,_

_I would like to start our private lessons this Saturday. Kindly come along to my office at 8 P.M. I hope you are enjoying your first day back at school._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_P.S. I enjoy Acid Pops._

"Acid Pops?" said Ron, reading over Harry's shoulder.

"It's the password to get past the gargoyle to his office." Harry explained in a low voice.

The three of them joined the queue outside the Potions class. Only a dozen students were continuing the class. Four Slytherins, including Malfoy, were there, as well as four Ravenclaws. Ron, Harry and Hermione were the only Gryffindors and Ernie Macmillan was the only Hufflepuff.

Slughorn opened the door and greeted them as they entered, particularly enthusiastic to Zabini and Harry.

The dungeon was already full of vapors and odd smells. There were four cauldrons on a table in the front of the classroom. Harry, Ron and Hermione joined Ernie at a table nearest a gold cauldron that was giving off a very seductive scent. The four Slytherins took a table together, as did the four Ravenclaws.

Slughorn began his lesson by asking the class if they knew the names of each potion. Hermione identified them all, and their characteristics: Veritaserum, the truth potion, Polyjuice Potion, and Amortentia, a love potion.

He was thoroughly impressed, and after some questioning, realized that Hermione was the friend Harry had spoken of back in Budleigh Babberton.

Slughorn then showed them a potion called Felix Felicis, liquid luck, and offered it as a prize to the one who made the best Draught of Living Death.

Harry took this as a chance to tell Slughorn about the unfortunate fate of his potions book, and Slughorn happily gave him an extra from the storage cupboard until he could write to Flourish and Blotts.

Harry opened the old, tattered copy to the right page, and found to his annoyance that the previous owner had scribbled all over the pages, making it difficult to decipher what the text said.

He squinted at the directions and set to work. In ten minutes, the room was full of bluish fumes. Unsurprisingly, Hermione seemed to have progressed furthest.

After chopping his valerian roots, Harry read the next set of directions, which said to cut a sopophorous bean to release its juices. Harry went to the store cupboard to find it and noticed Malfoy chopping ingredients at breakneck speed. Malfoy seemed rather desperate to win the Felix Felicis.

Hurrying back to his table, he read the directions again, and saw that the previous owner had written:

_Crush with flat side of silver dagger._

_Releases juice better than cutting._

After several failed attempts to cut the bean, he picked up his silver dagger and crushed it as the scribbled note said. This, he found, worked rather well, and he decided to give the other scribbled directions chance.

By the end of the hour, Harry's potion looked even closer to perfect than Hermione's. She seemed shocked by this, as did Ron.

Slughorn happily awarded the Felix Felicis to Harry, who thought he could feel the daggers shot from everyone else's eyes, including Hermione and Malfoy.

Back in the Common Room, Harry showed them the potions book. Hermione combed through it and studied it closely. Finally, she sat back and sighed.

"It does seem to be just a textbook." she said, giving it back to Harry.

"Of course it is. The previous owner just wrote a lot in it."

After working a while on his Potions homework, Harry began flipping through the old book and reading different notes from the previous owner. He flipped to the back and noticed, scribbled on the bottom edge of the cover:

This Book is the Property of the Half-Blood Prince.

* * *

The rest of the week, Harry continued to follow the Half-Blood Prince's directions wherever they differed from the author's. This annoyed Hermione to no end, as she continued to use the official directions, which continually yielded poorer results than the Prince's.

Between classes and homework, Harry continued to skim through the book and noticed that some of the notes in the margins did not have to do with potions, but seemed to be instructions on spells it looked like the Prince had made up himself.

At five 'til eight on Saturday night, Harry left the Common Room and made his way to the gargoyle statue that guarded Dumbledore's office.

"Acid Pops." He said, and he climbed the staircase.

Dumbledore greeted him as he entered the office and invited him to sit.

"I'm sure you're wondering what we will be studying this year." Dumbledore said. Not waiting for an answer, he continued. "Before we begin, however, I must ask you not to tell anyone what you see or hear during these lessons. You can make an exception for Sirius and Remus, and your friends, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger. But I do not think we can trust this knowledge with anyone else."

Harry promised, and Dumbledore retrieved the Pensieve from its cupboard.

"Now, let us start. I believe it is time, Harry, that you learned more about Lord Voldemort, now that you know what prompted him to attempt killing you fifteen years ago."

Harry listened curiously.

"The origins of Lord Voldemort are not well-known, but I have collected several memories which should give us a considerable amount of background knowledge on Tom Riddle." He walked over to a glass cabinet that housed dozens of tiny vials, each containing a sliver of memory. "We will begin with the sad story of Merope Gaunt."

Harry and Dumbledore plunged into the memory of a man named Bob Ogden, who visited a grimy old house in a place called Little Hangleton. He was met with an angry, somewhat mad, wizard who spoke Parseltongue.

Harry soon learned that the man was named Morfin Gaunt, and his father was Marvolo Gaunt. Merope Gaunt was Marvolo's daughter, and she was seemingly a Squib. Mr. Ogden was there about Morfin performing magic in front of a Muggle.

Mr. Gaunt was not at all cooperative, and he treated Merope like dirt. The Gaunts were pureblood, and Mr. Gaunt ranted about this, showing Ogden a ring from the Peverell family that Morfin wore, and dragging Merope by a gold chained locket inherited from the Slytherin family so that Ogden could see it, nearly choking her to death.

Ogden knew that he was getting nowhere with the Gaunts, and informed Marvolo that Morfin's hearing was on the fourteenth of September.

Ogden also stopped Marvolo from attacking Merope after Morfin told his father that she fancied the rich Muggle, Tom Riddle, heir to the Riddle house and all of its land. But this caused Morfin to attack him with a knife. Ogden ran for his life, and the memory swam out of view.

Returning to their chairs in Dumbledore's office, Harry asked. "What happened to Merope?"

"Oh, she survived. Ogden apparated to the Ministry and returned with reinforcements within fifteen minutes. Morfin and his father put up a fight, but they were both overpowered and subsequently arrested and convicted by the Wizengamot. Morfin was sentenced to three years in prison, and Marvolo was sentenced to six months."

"Isn't Marvolo…?"

"Voldemort's middle name? Yes, you see, Merope Gaunt was Voldemort's mother. And the young Muggle we saw in the horse-drawn carriage was Tom Riddle, his father."

"But how did Merope convince him to marry her?"

"A good question. You see, with both her father and brother out of the picture, Merope's magic suddenly flourished, and she turned out to be surprisingly skilled with love potions. She slipped one in Tom Riddle's drink one day and the two of them ran off together, quite a scandal in Little Hangleton. But no one was as shocked as Marvolo, who returned to an empty house after six months, expecting to find his daughter, but discovered a note of her farewell instead.

"Marvolo never saw his daughter again, and it may have been the shock of her desertion that led to his early death. He never saw the return of his son, either, who was released a couple years later. In any case, Merope began to think that Riddle truly loved her, and stopped giving him the love potion. She was wrong, and Riddle left her, returning to his home. But Merope was already with child."

"With Voldemort?"

"Yes. Now, I believe that is quite enough for tonight. Let us continue this in our next lesson. It is late."

Harry turned to leave, but remembered something. "Sir, that ring you were wearing weeks ago…"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Wasn't it the ring that Morfin Gaunt was wearing?"

"The very same."

"But why did you have it?"

"I had only recently acquired it. Fear not, dear boy. You will hear the whole tale quite soon."

Harry nodded and bid the Headmaster farewell, descending the stairs to return to the Common Room. Halfway there, he saw Tonks in the corridor.

"Wotcher, Harry." She greeted him. "You're out late."

"I was talking to Dumbledore." Harry said. "I'm going back to my dorm now."

"Ah, I'll walk you. Wouldn't look good for me to let you walk the corridors at night."

Harry made no argument. He was curious about something.

"So, Tonks," said Harry. "You wouldn't happen to know when Remus will be returning, would you? I've asked Sirius, but he said he didn't know."

This question caught Tonks by surprise. "Oh… um… in a few weeks, I suppose. He said he'd be back in October."

"What's he doing anyways?"

"Only Remus and Dumbledore know."

Harry nodded and they walked in silence for a few minutes.

"So, classes good? Sirius told me you've already pissed off Snape."

Harry laughed. "It's not very hard to do. I'm lucky I didn't get detention."

"Yeah, he didn't like me much either. I used to mess up my potions all the time. Not my best subject."

Harry took another chance. "That's funny. Remus is terrible at Potions, too."

"Really?" Tonks seemed surprised by this. "I always thought…" She trailed off, and Harry allowed her to get lost in thought.

"We're here." He said as they reached the portrait hole.

She looked up, surprised, at the Fat Lady's portrait. "So it's this one, eh? I always expected something grander, maybe a lion or something, for the Gryffindor House."

"Nope, it's just a portrait and a password." Harry said.

"Hmph. I've got something to tease Sirius about then. Well, good night, Harry." Tonks left and Harry climbed through the portrait hole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the story continues. I'm sure some of you will notice that quite a bit of the dialogue is the same as in canon. I summarized where I could, but summarizing gets boring, for the writer and the reader, so I included the dialogue. Having Tonks around gives me opportunities to make everything more interesting.


	14. Duelling Club

A week later, Harry held Quidditch tryouts, which were a fiasco. After ensuring that all the students there were actually Gryffindors, Harry set sorted them into groups based on what position they were trying out for. He then watched them in practice. In the end, Ginny and Katie returned as Chasers, and they were joined by Demelza Robins. Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Cootes were the new Beaters, and Ron was Keeper, to Cormac McLaggen's rage.

When Harry's new Potions book came in, Harry did not want to give up the Half-Blood Prince's book. He used magic to switch the covers of the two books and returned the new one, with the old cover, to Slughorn.

Upon returning to the Common Room one afternoon, Harry saw students crowded around an announcement. He and Ron pushed their way to the front and read it:

_All students interested in joining the Duelling Club must sign up with their Head of House before 27 September. The first meeting of the Duelling Club will take place on Saturday, 28 September at 2 o'clock in the Great Hall._

Returning to Hermione, Harry said. "They're reinstating the Duelling Club."

"Really? I wonder who's in charge of it." said Hermione.

"As long as it's not Snape and some kook like Lockhart, I'll be there." said Ron.

The three of them signed up with Professor McGonagall later that day.

Harry kept in contact with Sirius, either by visiting with him in person or talking to him with the two-way mirror.

Harry, Hermione and Ginny all attended a dinner with Slughorn the evening of Quidditch trials. It was four hours long and Harry was glad when it was over. Most of it was spent listening to Slughorn's reminiscences.

Harry saw very little of Dumbledore throughout the next few weeks. He rarely showed up for meals, and he had not sent Harry a note for their next lesson.

On the fourth Saturday of September, Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way to the Great Hall for the Duelling Club's first meeting.

It seemed more than half the school had shown up. Luna and Neville stood off to the side, and Harry led Hermione and Ron to them. Ginny joined them a moment later. The four long tables stood on their ends against the wall.

After a few minutes of waiting, four people emerged from the door behind the teacher table, which was pushed back against the wall. Harry's jaw dropped as Sirius, Nigel, Tonks, and a thin, dark-haired woman he did not recognize made their way to the middle of the platform that the teacher's table stood on.

"Oh, of course Sirius is in charge of this." Hermione said. "And Tonks. They really supported the D.A. last year."

"That man there is Nigel, his partner, but I don't know who the woman is." Harry said.

"Maybe it's Tonks partner." said Ron.

They didn't have long to wonder, as the woman they did not know stepped forward.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Duelling Club." she said. "My name is Willow Vale. I am an Auror who has been stationed here at Hogwarts for your protection. These are my colleagues, Nigel Wright, Sirius Black, and Nym-"

"Tonks. It's Tonks." Said the metamorphmagus with gritted teeth.

"Very well. Tonks." Willow Vale continued. "The four of us will be in charge of teaching you all how to duel. As it happens, we were all students here at Hogwarts, and we came from different houses. Nigel was in Ravenclaw, Sirius was in Gryffindor, N- Tonks was in Hufflepuff, and I was in Slytherin. Because of this, we thought it would be fun to host a Duelling Tournament. The best student from each House Tournament will compete against the other three top Duelists, representing their House. The tournaments will take place in February, so you have plenty of time to perfect your skills."

Nigel, who'd been quietly conversing with Tonks and Sirius behind Willow, stepped forward. "There's too many of you for just the four of us, so at this time, I'd like all the sixth and seventh years to stand over there." He pointed to his right, where there was an empty space in front of the platform he stood on. "Should you prove to be skilled in duelling, you may assist us in mentoring the younger students. You will, of course, have plenty of free time to practice your own skills and be able to compete in the tournament."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville joined the ranks of sixth and Seventh years in the area Nigel had indicated.

"Now, then." said Willow. "I'm sure many of you have never been in nor seen a duel before. Sirius, Tonks, would you like to demonstrate?"

Sirius and Tonks shared a smirk.

"'Course we would." Tonks said.

Willow hopped off the stage. As Snape and Lockhart had once done, Sirius and Tonks first bowed to each other, and then walked away to plant some distance between them. They turned to face each other, wands at the ready. Tonks looked battle-ready, but Sirius seemed a little more relaxed.

"Relashio!" Tonks cried, light shooting from her line.

"Protego!" Sirius deflected her jinx. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Tonks blocked it and sent another jinx his way. They sent spells at each other one after the other, moving around the platform, but still staying a distance away from each other, all the while blocking spells from hitting them.

Then, Sirius cried, "Stupefy!" just as Tonks shouted, "Relashio!" The two jinxes met in the middle, causing a bright flash of light.

As Harry regained the ability to see, he noticed that Sirius and Tonks were both still standing, eyes locked on each other.

"All right, thank you! Tonks, Sirius! That was great!" Willow stepped between them. Both of them lowered their wands. Nigel climbed onto the stage next to Willow.

"Well, students. That was a basic duel." Said Nigel. "One you might find in a friendly competition. However, I want you all to be aware, if you were attacked, your enemy isn't going to stop and bow respectfully. You must always be on your guard. As my former Auror instructor always says, 'constant vigilance'!"

Half the hall burst out laughing and Nigel looked at Tonks and Sirius.

"Most of these students," said Sirius. "Had Alastor for a teacher two years ago. Although, we didn't know it at the time, that was actually Barty Crouch Jr., who was a Death Eater. He was very good at impersonating Moody, I must admit."

"Ah, so you're all familiar with his motto, then." Nigel said.

Many students nodded.

"And it doesn't bother any of you that your teacher was actually a Death Eater in disguise?" Willow asked.

The students shared glanced, and some of them shrugged.

"I'm sure they're used to it by now." said Tonks. "I mean, really, they probably learned more from that Death Eater in disguise than Umbridge, Quirrell and Lockhart combined."

Harry smiled at Tonks' comment.

"Wow, that's " Nigel asked, surprised.

"What about Remus Lupin?" Willow said.

A collective cheer rose up around the hall.

"Well, I think we know who their favorite teacher was." said Sirius, smirking.

"Let's get back to work." Willow said, clapping her hand. "Alright, students, you're all going to divide into groups based on House and Year. sixth and seventh years, stay where you are. Everyone will be tested based on skill level, and we'll divide you into three groups based on how you perform: Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced. Don't feel bad if you're in Beginning. Not everyone was in that D.A. club last year."

Willow set Sirius and Nigel to testing the skills of the older students, while she and Tonks divided the rest of the students up and took notes on clipboards she'd conjured. After an hour, she and Tonks climbed back onto the platform.

"Right then, that's all for today. This was sort of an introductory meeting. Our next meeting is on the 5 October, this coming Saturday. We will begin real spell casting then. Until then, you are all dismissed, with the exception of the sixth and seventh years."

Harry and his friends waited while the younger students filed out of the hall, including Ginny and Luna. Harry thought it was a bit unfair that the two of them had not been invited to be mentors, as well.

Then he heard Nigel talking quietly to Sirius a few feet away. "You know, some of the D.A. members are under sixth Year. I noticed a red-headed Gryffindor in fifth year who seemed better than some of the older students. We should come up with a way for fifth years to earn a mentoring spot."

"Yeah, that was probably Ginny Weasley." said Sirius. "And she's not the only one. Let's have any Fifth Year who's interested duel one of the older students from the group that passed. If they win or perform well enough, then they can be mentors as well."

"Good idea. I'm going to give this list to Willow." Nigel climbed onto the stage and handed the dark-haired witch his clipboard.

Finally, the only ones left in the hall were sixth and seventh years.

"'Kay then, let's see." Willow scanned the list. "If I call your name, please stand next to Nigel." She read a series of names including Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Ernie, Katie and Malfoy. They stood near Nigel. "Now, the rest of you, I am sorry, but you didn't qualify to mentor the other students. You will be sorted into the three classes based on your performance today, and you can advance through the ranks as you gain experience. Those of you with Nigel, please stay. Everyone else is dismissed."

The rejected students left quickly, a few of them grumbling but some seeming unconcerned.

"Now, there are thirteen of you left. You have all proven skilled enough to mentor the younger students. During the first part of each practice, that is what you will be doing. We will assign you each a group of students to mentor. Please arrive half an hour early on Saturday so we can brief you before the other students arrive."

With that, she dismissed them. As the other students left, Harry, Hermione and Ron approached Sirius, who grinned at them.

"Knew you'd all make it as mentors. But I thought I'd make it fair and have Nigel test you." he said.

"Why didn't you tell us you were doing a Duelling Club?" asked Ron, indignantly.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." Sirius shrugged. "Just like dear old Slughorn."

"Well, you succeeded." Hermione admitted.

Sirius smiled at her. "So what did you three think of my duel with Tonks?"

They chatted with Sirius for awhile, before Nigel appeared and reminded Sirius they had duty. Sirius bid them goodbye and followed Nigel from the hall. The three of them went back to their Common Room to finish their mountain of homework.


	15. Suspicions

Halfway through October was the first Hogsmeade weekend, and Harry was looking forward to it. Sirius had said he would be able to spend a few hours with Harry in Hogsmeade, and that Remus would be there as well.

A few days before the Hogsmeade weekend, Harry was digging around in his trunk, looking for a spare quill to finish his Transfiguration homework when he pulled out a familiar, folded up piece of parchment. It was the Marauder's Map.

Just for fun, Harry unfolded the parchment, checking that he was alone in the room.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The map of Hogwart appeared before him, with the names of all the people inside. He found Sirius and Nigel near each other in a room labeled "Auror wing". He assumed it was their room, considering the size of it. He had never seen it before, and wondered if the map changed as the school did.

Hermione and Ron were both in the Common Room, right where he'd left them… Dumbledore's office was empty, and he didn't appear anywhere on the map… Hagrid was in his hut… Slughorn was in his classroom, moving about… Malfoy was in the seventh floor corridor… and Flitwick was-

Harry's eyes shot back to Malfoy's name, which was moving back in forth in one small area of the corridor. What was Malfoy, a Slytherin, doing on the seventh floor? There were no classes in that area and his dormitory was in the dungeons. He simply had no reason to be there.

And then, quite suddenly, Malfoy's name disappeared. Vanished from the map. Harry checked the Slytherin Common Room, the dorms, the Great Hall, teacher's office. He scanned the entire map. But Malfoy was gone. Just… gone.

Harry had been a little suspicious of Malfoy before, but now… he knew he was up to something.

Forgetting about his quill completely, he returned to Hermione and Ron and told them about Malfoy's disappearance. Ron seemed unconcerned, and Hermione admitted it was a bit strange, but concluded that the map must be a little faulty. This frustrated Harry, but he decided to bring it up with Sirius on Saturday.

A few days later, Harry, Ron and Hermione were stomping down the path to Hogsmeade, pockets of money just waiting to be emptied. Sirius had told Harry to meet him in The Three Broomsticks around noon, so they explored the village first.

Just as they reached the village, Ginny ran over to them. "Hey, Harry. I'm supposed to give you this." She handed him a scroll and then returned to Dean, who she was dating.

"Another lesson with Dumbledore. Monday evening." Harry said, reading the scroll. Ron and Hermione were very interested about this, and the three of them wondered for a few minutes what Harry would learn about Tom Riddle in the coming lesson.

At Honeydukes, Harry bought some Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, and Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. After Honeydukes, they made their way to Zonko's, which they found closed and boarded up. They sadly walked away and went to Dervish and Banges to restock on parchment, quills and ink.

By that point, it was time to meet Sirius and Remus. They slipped through the crowd in The Three Broomsticks and spotted Sirius and Remus sitting at a table in the corner.

Remus looked much better than he normally did, partly because he was wearing new robes, but also because he was unusually cheerful and energetic. He greeted them with a happy smile.

"We ordered you all butterbeers." Sirius said, motioning to the three extra drinks on the table.

"Thanks." said Harry. They each took one.

"Wotcher!" said a voice behind them.

They turned to find Tonks, holding her own butterbeer. She sat down next to Remus, who smiled at her. She smiled back.

Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a knowing glance. It seemed Remus had finally returned Tonk's feelings.

The group spent the next hour and a half just talking, taking their time with their lunch. There were points where the conversation turned to people who'd been killed or gone missing, but thankfully, no one brought up the prophecy or Harry's lessons with Dumbledore (though this may have been because of Tonks, who was the only person at the table who didn't know everything Dumbledore had told Harry).

Sirius paid for lunch, and the six of them left the Three Broomsticks. They started to make their way back to the school, stomping through the snow, and Remus and Tonks wandered ahead of them, just out of earshot, the perfect opportunity for the three of them to grill Sirius.

"So, are they officially together?" Hermione asked, unusually straightforward.

"Yeah, that's what they've both told me. Seperately." said Sirius. "Tonks is over the moon, and to be honest, I've never seen Remus so cheery either." He watched as Tonks laughed at something Remus had said. "They're good for each other, don't you think?"

"Definitely." Ron said. "I mean, they're opposites, Tonks being all goofy and hyper and Remus being quiet and calm, but opposites attract, right?"

"They balance each other." Hermione said.

Harry quite agreed. Before this past summer, he never would have pegged the two of them as a couple, but seeing them together, they were a perfect fit.

"Hey, isn't that Katie?" Hermione asked suddenly. "It looks like she's arguing with Leanne."

Sure enough, up ahead, Katie was walking with a friend, and they were arguing over a package Katie was holding. Suddenly, the package ripped and fell to the ground. At once, Katie rose into the air, her arms outstretched, as though she was about to fly. Her eyes were closed and her face empty of expression.

Harry saw Remus and Tonks rush forward, and Sirius followed suit. Harry, Ron and Hermione were not far behind. Just as they reached her, Katie let out a bloodcurdling scream. Her eyes flew open, but whatever she could see was causing her terrible anguish. Leanne screamed too and reached to pull her down by the ankles, but Tonks stopped her.

As she pulled the girl away, Katie fell to the ground, caught by Remus, who struggled to hold her still as she had begun to writhe and scream the moment she touched solid ground. He managed to pick her up and carry her toward the castle. Sirius located the package on the ground and levitated it.

"Hey, I recognize that." Tonks said. "It was in Borgin and Burkes ages ago when I was following…" She stopped, glancing at Harry, Ron and Hermione. "It said it was cursed."

Sirius turned to Katie's friend, who was shaking uncontrollably. "It's Leanne, right?" He asked kindly and she nodded. "Do you know where Katie got this?"

"Well, that's why we were arguing. She came back from the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks holding it. She said it was a surprise for somebody and she had to deliver it. She looked all funny when she said it… Oh no! I bet she'd been Imperiused and I didn't know it!" Leanne burst into tears again.

Tonks and Hermione stepped forward to comfort her.

"She didn't say who it was from, Leanne?" asked Hermione, patting her on the shoulder.

"No… she wouldn't tell me… and I said she was stupid and not to take it back to the school… but she wouldn't listen so I tried to grab it from her… and… and…" She let out a wail of despair.

"Come on, let's go back to the school. Remus is taking Katie to Madam Pomfrey." Tonks said. Then she raised her wand and something silver shot out of the end, straight towards the school. "McGonagall will meet us in the Hospital Wing."

Tonks led the way up the path, Sirius right behind, carrying the cursed necklace, now, which he'd wrapped with his cloak. Harry, Ron and Hermione followed at his heels.

McGonagall was waiting outside the Hospital Wing with Remus.

"We can't go in." Remus said when he saw them. They could faintly hear Katie's screams on the other side of the door. "Madam Pomfrey's put her in isolation. Some St. Mungo's Healers are on their way to transport her to the hospital."

"I-is she going… to be okay?" Leanne asked.

"She will be fine, dear." McGonagall said kindly. "Luckily, she did not touch the necklace directly. She had a hole in her glove and the necklace brushed it."

"And if she had touched it… directly… what would have happened?" Hermione asked.

McGonagall looked at her. "I cannot be sure until I've seen the necklace in question."

Sirius held out his cloak, and McGonagall levitated the necklace from its folds.

"I've heard of items such as these." Sirius said. "My father had a ring he kept locked in a glass box. He told me it was cursed, and anyone who touched it would die."

Leanne gasped, and Remus reached out to comfort her.

"Everything's going to be alright, Leanne." He said. "Here, take a bite of this. You'll feel better." He handed her a Chocolate Frog, and she hesitantly bit into it. She relaxed almost immediately.

McGonagall wrapped the necklace in Sirius' cloak once more, and then turned to Harry.

"I don't like saying this, but I think you'll need to find a replacement Chaser until Miss Bell returns from St. Mungo's."

Harry nodded, and McGonagall walked away, cloak-wrapped necklace in hand.

"Come along, Leanne." Remus said. "Let's go down to the kitchens and get you some hot chocolate, and then you can go up to your dorm and rest."

"I wasn't able to help her." Leanne said, holding half her chocolate frog.

"You did help, Leanne." Remus assured her. "If you hadn't tried to stop her bringing that necklace back, a dozen worse things could have happened. She could have succeeded in delivering that necklace, or opened it herself, and someone could have died. But you prevented that happening. And the information you gave Sirius and Tonks will help them find the person who gave Katie the necklace." Remus led Leanne away, his words effectively cheering her up.

"Thank you, professor." They heard her say a ways down the corridor. "But if you don't mind my asking, what are you doing at Hogwarts? Are you going to teach again instead of Snape?"

They didn't hear Remus' reply, but the five of them who remained exchanged a bemused smile.

"I suppose we should go to the Three Broomsticks and find out what we can." Sirius said, walking down the corridor once Remus and Leanne were out of sight.

"Sirius, I think it was Malfoy." Harry burst out.

Sirius stared at Harry for a moment before opening the door of a deserted storage room. He peered inside and then beckoned them all in.

"That's quite an accusation, Harry." Tonks said. "Do you have any evidence?"

Harry took a breath. "Malfoy knew about that necklace. I saw him looking at it in Borgin and Burkes four years ago-"

"What were you doing in Knockturn Alley four y- ouch!" Tonks punched Sirius in the arm to shut him up.

"Go on." she said.

"And the day we were in Diagon Alley last summer, Ron, Hermione and I saw Draco walking towards Knockturn Alley all by himself. I know he was up to something."

Sirius, who was still rubbing his arm, exchanged a glance with Tonks.

Harry suddenly realised what Tonks had been doing before she had rejoined the group outside of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"You followed him, didn't you?" He said.

Tonks sighed. "Yes, I did. And I can assure you, whatever Malfoy is doing, we're very aware of it."

"You three needn't worry about this anymore. We've got it under control." said Sirius.

"Well, I wasn't worried at all, really." Ron mumbled, earning a glare from Harry.

Harry stared at them. "One of my teammates being cursed is 'under control'?"

"You don't know for sure that was Malfoy, Harry." Sirius said quietly. "You have enough to do this year without worrying about him, too."

"But while we're on the topic," said Tonks. "Any other information you have would be helpful."

Harry thought she sounded like a Muggle detective on the telly. He thought for a moment, and then remembered something. "He disappeared from the Marauder's Map."

"What?" Sirius looked surprised. "That's impossible. The Map doesn't just lose people."

"But it lost Malfoy. He was in the seventh floor corridor, and then suddenly he was gone. I checked the rest of the map, and he was nowhere. I thought he might've left the school, but there's no secret passageways there… there's nothing."

"Harry, do you have the map right now?" Sirius asked.

Harry pulled it out of his bag and handed it to him.

"Can I borrow it for awhile? This would give us a serious advantage. I can keep an eye on Malfoy, as well."

Harry nodded, glad he was being taken seriously.

A few minutes later, Harry, Ron and Hermione were climbed the steps up to their dorm.

"Well, Harry, you were right." Hermione admitted. "Malfoy is up to something."

"But what are you going to do now Sirius' taken the map?" asked Ron. "You just gave him an advantage over us, too! He can see where we are. He's probably watching it right now to make sure we go back to the Common Room."

"I'm not sure what to do yet." Harry said. "But I couldn't just say no, could I?"

"Maybe we should just forget about it for once." Hermione said. "Like Sirius said, we've got a lot on our plate, especially you, Harry. You've your lessons with Dumbledore, and Quidditch, and now the Duelling Club."

"Don't forget the Slug Club." said Ron begrudgingly.

"Yes, that too." Hermione sighed.

They reached the portrait hole and clambered through it. It was completely empty save for a group of first years in the corner. With nothing better to do, they put away their shopping from Hogsmeade and pulled out their books to finish the plethora of homework they'd received that week.


	16. Riddles and Broomsticks

News of Katie Bell's unfortunate run-in with the cursed necklace spread like wildfire, but information about the incident wasn't always accurate. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Leanne seemed to be the only ones who knew Katie wasn't the intended target.

"And Malfoy." Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione while they studied in the library the next day.

"Harry, we know Malfoy's up to something," said Hermione. "But we don't have proof that he gave that necklace to Katie."

Harry sighed. Hermione was right, as usual. And the best way he could have found evidence was in Sirius' hands now. He hoped Sirius was really taking Harry's information seriously.

With Katie Bell in the hospital, Harry was down one Chaser, so he immediately chose Dean, who had played last year when Harry was banned, to replace her. Harry was actually a little hesitant to ask his friend to join the team. He'd seen Dean and Ginny together several times throughout the year, and each time, he'd felt a strange protectiveness over Ginny. He assumed it was because he was Ron's best friend, and she was like a little sister to him. He managed to push it to the back of his mind and asked Dean to the team, even though he felt like punching him. Dean accepted immediately and Harry informed him of the next practice.

* * *

As Dumbledore requested, Harry arrived at his office at eight o'clock. Dumbledore was there, which surprised Harry. He wasn't sure Dumbledore would have been back on time from wherever he'd been.

"Good evening, Harry." The Headmaster greeted him.

Harry returned the greeting and took his usual seat across from Dumbledore.

"You have had a busy time while I was away." said Dumbledore. "I believe you witnessed Miss Bell's accident."

"Yes, sir." said Harry. "How is she, sir?"

"Still very unwell, but she escaped death quite narrowly. Had she put the necklace on, or touched it with her ungloved hands, she would have died, perhaps instantly." Dumbledore told him gravely. "But together, Sirius and Professor Snape were able to prevent the spread of the curse to her entire body. The hospital is sending me hourly updates, and in time, I believe she will make a full recovery. In the meantime, I assume you have found a replacement Chaser?"

"Yes, sir. I asked Dean yesterday - he was a substitute player last year. He almost made the team this year."

"A fine choice, I'm sure. Although, I regret that I was not Headmaster for the last few Quidditch games." Dumbledore said.

"Sir, where were you this weekend?" Harry asked.

"Ah, in due time, Harry. But today, we have other things to discuss."

Dumbledore poured fresh memories into the Pensieve.

"You will recall, in our last lesson, that we left the tale of Voldemort's beginnings where the handsome Muggle, Tom Riddle, had abandoned his wife, Merope, and returned to his family in Little Hangleton. Merope was left alone in London, expecting the baby who would one day become Lord Voldemort."

"How do you know she was in London, sir?"

"Because of the evidence of one Caractacus Burke," said Dumbledore. "Who, by odd coincidence, helped found the very shop whence came the necklace we have just been discussing."

The figure of a little old man rose up from the Pensieve, much like a memory of Professor Trelawney had just before the summer.

"Yes, we acquired it in curious circumstances. It was brought it by a young witch just before Christmas, oh, many years ago now. She said she needed the gold badly, well, that much was obvious. Covered in rags and pretty far along… Going to have a baby, you see. She said the locket had been Slytherin's. Well, we hear that sort of story all the time, 'Oh, this was Merlin's, this was, his favorite teapot,' but when I looked at it, it had his mark alright, and a few simple spells were enough to tell me the truth. Of course, that made it near enough priceless. She didn't seem to have any idea how much it was worth. Happy to get ten galleons for it. Best bargain we ever made!"

Burke descended back into the Pensieve as Dumbledore gave it a shake.

"Only ten Galleons?" said Harry indignantly.

"Caractacus Burke was not famed for his generosity. So we know that, near the end of her pregnancy, Merope was alone in London and in desperate need of gold, desperate enough to sell her one and only valuable possession, the locket that was one of Marvolo's treasured family heirlooms."

"But she could do magic! She could have got food and everything for herself by magic, couldn't she?"

"Ah, perhaps she could. But it is my belief - I am guessing again, but I am sure I am right - that when her husband abandoned her, Merope stopped using magic. I do not think that she wanted to be a witch any longer. Of course, it is also possible that her unrequited love and the attendant despair sapped her of her powers - that can happen. In any case, as you are about to see, Merope refused to raise her wand even to save her own life."

"She wouldn't even stay alive for her son?"

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "Could you possibly be feeling sorry for Lord Voldemort?"

"No," Harry said quickly, "but she had a choice, didn't she, not like my mother -"

"Your mother had a choice too," said Dumbledore gently. "Yes, Merope Riddle chose death in spite of a son who needed her, but do not judge her too harshly, Harry. She was greatly weakened by long suffering and she never had your mother's courage. And now, if you will stand…"

And they plunged into another memory, this time one of Dumbledore's. They followed a considerably younger Dumbledore, only a teacher at the time, and wearing a flamboyant plum-coloured suit, into an orphanage, where he met a woman named Mrs. Cole. Dumbledore talked with the caretaker for a while, learning how Merope had come to the orphanage 11 years ago and given birth to a baby boy, who she named Tom Marvolo Riddle. The poor girl then died, and Tom had been there ever since. Mrs. Cole described the boy as strange; odd things happened to the children who played with him. She sounded almost fearful of him. Dumbledore lightly explained his reason for being there - to offer Tom a place at the prestigious Hogwarts.

Then Dumbledore met Tom Riddle himself. The boy looked like his father, though much younger, with dark eyes and hair and a pale face. He did not seem happy to see Dumbledore, expecting him to be a psychologist, and was skeptical about Hogwarts. The boy had a forceful nature, and had already discovered he had certain powers, including Parseltongue, though he didn't know the name of it.

Dumbledore demonstrated a bit of magic - the wardrobe, where Tom had hidden stolen item, burst into flames. Dumbledore instructed him to return the items to their rightful owners, and told him that thievery was not tolerated at Hogwarts. Tom seemed much more interested after hearing he was a wizard, and that Hogwarts was a school of magic.

After explaining a few things about the magical world to Tom, Dumbledore bid the strange boy farewell. Harry and the older Dumbledore returned to the Headmaster's office.

"He believed it much quicker than I did." said Harry, after the two of them had returned to their seats.

"Yes, Riddle was perfectly ready to believe that he was - to use his word - 'special'." said Dumbledore.

"Did you know - then?" asked Harry.

"Did I know that I had just met the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time?" said Dumbledore. "No, I had no idea that he was to grow up to be what he is. However, I was certainly intrigued by him. I returned to Hogwarts intending to keep an eye on him, something I should have done in any case, given he was alone and friendless, but which, already, I felt I ought to do for others' sake as much as his.

"His powers, as you heard, were surprisingly well-developed for such a young wizard and - most interestingly and ominously of all - he had already discovered that he had some measure of control over them, and begun to use them consciously. And as you saw, they were not the random experiments typical of young wizards. He was already using magic against other people, to frighten, to punish, to control. The little stories of the strangled rabbit and the young boy and girl he lured into the cave were most suggestive… 'I can make them hurt if I want to…'"

"He was a Parselmouth." Harry interjected.

"Yes, indeed. A rare ability, and one supposedly connected with the Dark Arts, although as we know, there are Parselmouths among the great and the good too. In fact, his ability to speak to serpents did not make me nearly as uneasy as his obvious instincts for cruelty, secrecy, and domination."

After discussing traits that the young Tom Riddle had in common with the adult Voldemort, Harry said farewell and returned to his dormitory.

* * *

Harry, Ron and Hermione had Herbology first thing the next morning. Walking through the screaming wind the season had thrown at them, the three discussed Harry's lesson from the previous night.

While trying to harvest pods from gnarled Snargaluff stumps, Hermione informed Harry of Slughorn's upcoming Christmas party.

"You won't be able to get out of this one, Harry. Professor Slughorn had me check your free evenings so that he could plan it on a day you could be there."

"Oh, great, a Christmas party." Ron grumbled.

"And, you know, Ron," said Hermione. "We're allowed to bring one guest, and I wanted to invite you."

"Really?" Ron's expression changed almost immediately. "You mean it?"

"Of course I do." said Hermione.

"Wow, Hermione… I-I'd love to."

Harry, who stood between Ron and Hermione, glanced at each of their faces. Hermione was blushing slightly, and Harry was sure it had nothing to do with the greenhouse being too warm. Ron looked as though he were walking on air, considerably happier than he'd been seconds before. Harry smirked to himself, realizing something his two friends were oblivious to.

"So, who are you going to invite, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Wha-? Oh, um, I'm not sure yet." Harry said. "I'll have to think about it."

"Hm… just don't pick Romilda Vane." Hermione said. "I heard her telling her friends she's going to try and sneak you a love potion."

"Really?" Harry immediately regretted sounding so interested in this, as Hermione forced him to retrieve the next pod from the Snargaluff.

* * *

Harry was not looking forward to the upcoming Quidditch match, which was against Slytherin, and it had nothing to do with Dean, their newest member. In fact, Dean was a fantastic flyer and worked well with Ginny and Demelza. The beaters, Peakes and Coote, were improving all the time. The only problem was Ron. Ron had been great at tryouts, but his lack of confidence led him to constantly failing to stop the Quaffle.

This, added to his anger with Dean and Ginny, who he and Harry had found snogging in a corridor, meant he was not only playing terribly, but taking it out on everyone else as well. After he brought Demelza to the brink of tears, Harry had to threaten to kick him off the team.

Harry tried everything to boost Ron's confidence, but nothing seemed to work. He lay awake the night before the match, wondering what could possibly help Ron play better the next day. It would take a lot of luck for Gryffindor to win. Luck.

And then the answer came to him. The next morning, Harry pretended to slip some Felix Felicis into Ron's drink. Hermione, who believed he'd actually done it, was quite indignant about this, but Ron gulped down his pumpkin juice, his confidence bolstered.

Ron played perfectly, at one point nearly falling off his broom and hanging from the handle to kick the Quaffle clear across the field and straight one of the Slytherin goal hoops. When Harry caught the Snitch, Slytherin had not made a single goal, and the Gryffindor's cheered, chanting "Weasley is our king!"

Hermione, of course, was the only one not cheering, believing Ron only won because of the Felix Felicis. Back in the Common Room, where all the Gryffindors were still celebrating, Harry showed them the full bottle of liquid luck, and Ron immediately turned on Hermione, angry with her for believing he couldn't play that way himself. After a heated argument, Ron uninvited himself from Slughorn's party, and Hermione ran out of the portrait hole.

A few minutes later, Ron was snogging Lavender Brown. Harry saw Ginny and Dean all over each other, and feeling a surge of anger inside of him, decided to leave and find Hermione before he ripped Dean limb from limb.

He found her not far away, sitting on a desk in an unused classroom, crying, and little birds flying around her. Harry sat down next to her, and they talked a few minutes about Ron and Ginny, but mostly Harry just comforted Hermione and watched the tiny birds flap gracefully around the room, chirping.

They weren't alone for long, however. The door opened to reveal a very giddy Lavender and dumbfounded Ron. Lavender slipped out of the room when she saw Harry and Hermione, but Ron looked as though he were going to say something. Hermione hopped off the desk and muttered a spell, and the tiny birds turned on Ron and shot towards him like darts. He slammed the door shut, and the birds hit the door, poofing into nothing.

Hermione sat back on the desk with Harry and a new round of tears started.

Only minutes had passed when the door opened again, and Harry and Hermione looked up, startled and half-expecting to see Ron again.

But it was Sirius.

"You know it's past curfew, right?" He asked, his arms crossed.

"Ah, come on, Sirius." said a familiar voice behind them. Nigel stepped into the room. "They just won a big game. Let them celebrate a bit."

Sirius stared at him for a moment, "Yeah, and I suppose those are tears of joy?" He said sarcastically, motioning to Hermione's stricken face. He gave her a concerned look. "What happened?"

Harry explained quickly about Ron, though he left out the bit about the Felix Felicis, so that it sounded as though Hermione was upset at seeing Ron snogging Lavender after agreeing to go to Slughorn's Christmas party with him. He hoped Hermione didn't seem childish to Sirius, but he didn't want any of them in trouble over the liquid luck.

Sirius, however, did not think any less of Hermione, or Ron, for that matter. In fact, he gave her a hug.

“You know,” he said, pulling away. “I had two friends in a similar position. They’re both obviously perfect for each other, and she was heartbroken that he wouldn’t even give her a chance.”

“You mean Tonks and Remus?” Hermione asked, her voice a little scratchy from crying.

Sirius nodded his head, somewhat amused. “Yes, those two. Remus thinks he’s too old for her, and he’s scared because he’s a werewolf. Scared of hurting her, scared of having children. He’s being ridiculous, of course, but he’s finally letting her into his heart and-” He stopped suddenly, and gave them an apologetic look. “Sorry, this is supposed to be about you, Hermione

"No, it's alright." Hermione said. "I actually feel a bit better."

Sirius looked surprised. "Well, good then."

"Sirius," said Harry. "How did you know we were up here?"

It was Nigel who answered. "Oh, he saw your names on this amazing map - it's really ingenious -"

Sirius shot the other Auror a look that silenced him.

"You can't be serious!" said Harry, indignant with his godfather for spying on him.

"I am," said Sirius. "Quite literally, in fact."

Nigel laughed so hard his knees got weak, and Sirius had to help him from the room, his parting words for the both of them to go back to the dorm, with a reminder that he'd know if they didn't.

Harry and Hermione, who was considerably cheerier, obeyed Sirius and returned to the now-empty Common Room. They immediately said good night and went to their respective dormitories. Harry could hear Ron snoring in his bed. He lay down in his own bed, deep in thought. Although Sirius had helped Hermione feel better for now, Harry knew his friends' fight would not be over in the morning.


	17. Slugmas

Harry was right to think that it wouldn’t just blow over. In the Common Room the next day, neither Ron nor Hermione spoke to each other. Harry expected he’d have to sit between them, but Ron didn’t even sit with them. He and Lavender sat a ways down the table with Parvati Patil, Lavender’s best friend. Even Harry felt a little betrayed.

The tension didn’t ease throughout the next few weeks. Ron and Hermione continued to ignore each other, but Harry was saved the trouble of picking a side. Lavender took up so much of Ron’s time that he and Ron had very little time to talk, so Harry naturally spent most of his free time with Hermione. 

The only class they did not have with Lavender was Potions, where the three of them shared a table with Ernie Macmillan. Hermione had stopped sitting next to Harry in this class a month ago, and now moved so that Ernie was between herself and Ron. Harry was thankful that Ron separated him from Ernie, at least, because he didn’t want the Hufflepuff to see the Half-Blood Prince’s book and tell Slughorn about it. 

Ron at least talked to him in this class, and Harry was careful not to bring up Hermione, as the first few times he did, Ron ignored him for the rest of the class.

The day of Slughorn’s Christmas party grew closer and closer, but Harry still didn’t have a date. Ron and Hermione both listed several girls, separately, that he could ask, but Harry declined them all. None of them felt right to him.

Harry had just about given up and considered resigning himself to going alone. The morning of the party, he found himself walking the grounds, unsure of what to do.

Ahead of him, he noticed Luna at Hagrid’s cottage, petting Buckbeak the Hippogriff, who’d been renamed Witherwings. Hagrid wasn’t home, so Harry joined Luna, bowing to Buckbeak, who bowed back, before approaching.

“Hello, Harry.” Luna said. “He’s lovely isn’t he?” She said, motioning to the Hippogriff.

Harry had to admit, Buckbeak did have a majestic quality to him. “Yeah, his name’s Witherwings.”

“Hmm… a wonderful name, but I don’t think it suits him.” said Luna, but Harry decided it best not to mention the creature’s real name.

“Mmm…” He said in reply. “Where’s Hagrid?”

“He said he’s gone to feed some of the creatures in the forest. He had quite a lot of raw meat with him.” Luna picked up a slab of meat nearby and tossed it to Buckbeak, who snapped it out of the air and gobbled it whole. “You seem bothered, Harry. Do you want to talk about it?”

Harry wasn’t sure why Luna’s observance surprised him. She had the uncanny ability to see things others didn’t. “It’s nothing, really.” Harry lied. Suddenly, he thought of something. Luna was friendly… and a girl… and definitely wouldn’t think anything of being Harry’s guest at a party… “Say, Luna, I’m going to Slughorn’s Christmas party tonight, and I was wondering… would you like to go with me?”

Luna gazed at him for a moment, seeming a little surprised herself. “Slughorn’s party? With you?”

“Well… as friends, you know-”

“Oh, I would love to go as friends!” said Luna, beaming as Harry had never seen her beam before. “Nobody’s ever asked me to a party as friends before.”

“Well, um… okay. I’ll pick you up in the Entrance Hall at eight o’clock tonight.” Harry said. “I’ve got to go now - I forgot to pack a few things.”

“Okay then, see you tonight!” Luna called as he ran off.

Ron considered Harry’s choice in date’s ridiculous, but Ginny admonished him and informed Harry that Luna was ecstatic. Hermione seemed surprised but didn’t comment. Instead, she and Parvati had a very loud conversation in front of Ron and Lavender about Hermione going to the party with Cormac. She then walked away, leaving Ron staring dumbfounded after her and Parvati and Lavender to gossip.

At eight o’clock, Harry met Luna in the Entrance Hall, and, ignoring the envious stares and mutters from the unusually large number of girls in the hall, led Luna to Slughorn’s office, where the Potions Master was hosting the party.

“Did you hear, there’s supposed to be a vampire at the party?” Harry asked, trying to make conversation.

“Rufus Scrimgeour?”

“What? The Minister of Magic, you mean?” 

“Yes, he’s a vampire.” Luna said, matter-of-factly. “Father wrote an article about it but the Ministry wouldn’t let him publish it. Obviously, they didn’t want the truth to get out.”

Harry made no comment.

Slughorn’s office was considerably larger and grander than the usual teacher study. Slughorn caught sight of him almost as soon as Harry and Luna managed to squeeze into the crowded room. He dragged him by the arm over to a man named Worple and a vampire named Sanguini.

Harry managed to pull away and find Hermione, dragging Luna with him. Hermione, Harry discovered, was seriously regretting choosing Cormac as a date to the party. They found a place to the side of the room, where a considerably intoxicated Professor Trelawney stood by herself. She and Luna chatted while Harry talked to Hermione.

Hermione didn’t stick around long, disappearing at the sight of Cormac approaching. Harry, faithful to his friends even when they were arguing, denied any knowledge of Hermione’s whereabouts to Cormac. 

To his dismay, though, Slughorn found him again and began bragging to Trelawney and Snape about his prowess in Potion making. Luckily, a distraction appeared in that moment in the form of Draco Malfoy being dragged by the ear by Filch.

“Found this one lurking upstairs,” Filch told Slughorn. “Said he’d been invited to your party but was delayed setting out. Did you extend an invitation to him, sir?”

“All right, I was gatecrashing! Happy?” Malfoy said, yanking himself away from the caretaker.

Slughorn was more than willing to allow Draco to stay, but Snape pulled him from the room, declaring that as his Head of House, Draco’s consequence would be his decision.

Harry’s gut told him that Snape wasn’t pulling him out to discuss detentions, so Harry told Luna he’d be right back and snuck out of the room as well. He slipped on his Invisibility cloak and followed Draco and Snape to an empty classroom, where he stood outside and listened.

“Your first attempt was a feeble one.” Snape was saying.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Draco claimed.

“Draco, you don’t know what you’re getting into. Just let me help y-”

“I don’t need your help!” Draco hissed. “I’m doing fine on my own. I’ve got a plan and you’re not part of it.”

A hand suddenly covered Harry’s mouth, and he found himself being drug away from Snape and Malfoy. He was released in another empty classroom in the next corridor, but his Invisibility Cloak was snatched away.

“I’ll take that.” said a familiar voice. 

Harry turned to the person who’d caught him. It was Sirius once again.

“How did you-?” Harry’s question was cut short by Sirius holding up the Marauder’s Map.

“I noticed you disappeared from the party - yes, I was there - and asked Luna where you’d gone. Bad idea on my part; she started talking about Nargles or some other rubbish. But I had a feeling you’d followed Snape and Malfoy, even though I’ve already told you not to get involved.”

“So Snape’s part of it, too?” Harry asked, and Sirius gave him a stern look.

“Harry, for the last time, do not concern yourself with Malfoy.” He said. “And you won’t be getting this,” He held up the Invisibility Cloak. “Back until I see fit, understand?”

Harry stared at him. “Sirius, why won’t you let me help? I’ve done more difficult things than th-”

“And you shouldn’t have had to! You’re still only a child, Harry!” said Sirius, raising his voice slightly. “I know for the past five years you’ve done what you wanted, what you felt was right, but you didn’t have anyone to stop you. You’ve done a lot of things on your own, Harry, incredible things, but you don’t have to do everything yourself anymore. That’s why the Order was formed, so that we could help you fight Voldemort. We don’t want you to be alone - I don’t want you to be alone.”

Harry was surprised at his words. “But if the Order is here to help me, then why can’t I help them?”

“You are helping, Harry. First, by staying safe and alive. But also by having your lessons with Dumbledore. I know you may not feel like you’re doing much at the moment, but Dumbledore has plans - and things he’s only telling you. I wouldn’t know what you two talked about if you weren’t telling me, you know.”

Harry thought about this for a moment. “So you don’t know what happened to his hand, then?”

“No clue. As far as I know, no one in the Order has been told.” said Sirius. “But don’t try to change the subject. I meant what I said, Harry. Don’t get involved with Malfoy.”

Harry nodded, meeting Sirius’ eyes to show he wasn’t lying.

“Good, now let’s get back to the party, before Luna starts to think you abandoned her.”


	18. Home Sweet Home

The next day, everyone boarded the train to King's Cross Station. When Harry stepped off the train, Remus, Sirius, and Nigel were waiting for him. Harry said goodbye to his friends and they took a Ministry car back to the Leaky Cauldron, where Nigel said goodbye.

"You're welcome to visit Crystal Cottage." Sirius told him. "And your family, too."

"Thanks. All the things you've told me about that place, I might take you up on that offer." With that, Nigel disapparated.

Remus, Sirius, and Harry then took a Portkey back to Crystal Cottage. They appeared just outside the waterfall, and Harry noticed Sirius and Remus had their wands at the ready, studying the trees closely.

Harry went through the cave first, followed by Remus and his trunk, and then Sirius. They dried off with a spell and made their way through the willow trees until, finally, they reached Crystal Cottage.

Sirius with a huff collapsed onto the couch the moment they were inside.

"Tired?" Remus asked.

"Being an Auror is harder than I remember." Sirius said. "I think Mad-Eye's rubbing off on me. I'm always on edge."

"You were out of touch from everything for a long time, Sirius." Remus said. "And you've only just been accepted back into the wizarding community. You can't expect to be in top form within a few months. Give it time."

Sirius grunted, his eyes closed.

"I'll send your things up to your room, Harry." Remus said. "Both of you need to wash up for dinner. I made it while you were on the train."

Sirius heaved himself off the couch and stretched. "Is Tonks coming over?"

"I told you yesterday I invited her." Remus said.

"That doesn't mean she accepted. Maybe she realized she needed someone who can actually fly on a broom."

The book Remus threw missed Sirius' head by a hair. Sirius laughed and dashed up the stairs.

Harry followed him. "Remus can't fly on a broom?"

"He's about as graceful as Hermione." Sirius said, helping Harry move his trunk out of the doorway, to the end of his bed. "Not much of a Quidditch player because of it. But he makes up for it with his excellent Apparating. He was the first one in our class to master it, and the first to pass his test. I remember James was very jealous when Remus and your mother were the only ones who'd passed their tests. They couldn't do it at school, but they spent the next Hogsmeade weekend in an Apparating contest."

Harry laughed. "I thought my mother didn't like any of you before Seventh Year?"

They went to the bathroom to wash up.

"She didn't like me and James." said Sirius. "But she befriended Remus before we did. He was our roommate, but he didn't talk to us much until after Christmas in our First Year. That's when we formed the Marauders. Our pranks improved exponentially when Remus began lending a hand. Lily wasn't happy about it, but she didn't stop Remus being friends with us. He had few enough as it was."

"Did she know Remus was a werewolf?"

"If she were here, she'd say she knew it before anyone else."

"And did she?"

"That's debatable, because she and I both figured it out after the first full moon at Hogwarts. I just didn't say anything. James realized it about halfway through Second Year."

The door opened downstairs and they heard Remus and Tonks greeting each other, so they finished in the bathroom and joined the other two in dining room to enjoy a lovely dinner together.

* * *

Christmas Eve arrived a few days later with a fresh layer of snow on the ground, and Harry momentarily forgot about Draco, Snape, and his lessons with Dumbledore.

Tonks was spending the day with her parents so it was just Harry, Remus and Sirius. They would be going to the Burrow the next day to enjoy Christmas with the Weasleys.

Although he was sixteen, Harry was glad to spend some time alone with his godfather, and Remus, who was much like an uncle of sorts. He was loathe to give Remus this title, as Harry didn't have great experience with aunts and uncles. He preferred to think of Remus as another godfather, or parental figure. He told Sirius this while Remus was out in the garden, trying to cast anti-freeze spells on his plants.

"Are you sure he's not like a godmother?" Sirius asked, jokingly. "Think about it. He's a great cook and gardener, and he keeps both of us in line - things we associate with Molly. And he owns this enchanted cottage, fit for a fairy godmother."

Harry, of course, defended Remus.

"But if you're my godfather and he's my godmother, doesn't that imply something about your relationship?"

"You know what, can't we just settle on Remus being an uncle?" Sirius said, obviously regretting his words. "You can call him your favorite uncle, and since he's not even related to you, it'll be an even bigger insult to Vernon."

Harry laughed. Sirius' reasoning was sound.

When Remus returned, it was time to decorate the Christmas tree. They spent the next hour pulling out old Christmas decorations the Lupins had stored away in the attic. Sirius went upstairs and returned with a square package containing four ornaments. He pulled out the first three, one for each of them.

Remus' ornament was a jack rabbit in a yellow scarf sitting on the back of a wolf in a red scarf. Sirius had a large black dog in a red scarf, and Harry's was a stag and doe, with a fawn standing between them. All three of them wore red scarves.

Harry was at a loss for words.

"I had that made a long time ago." Sirius said. "I was saving it for Christmas the year your parents died."

"I love it, Sirius." Harry said. "Thank you."

They hung the three ornaments near each other on the tree.

"And this one," said Sirius, unwrapping the fourth ornament. "I picked up yesterday from Diagon Alley." He held it up for the other two to see. This time it was a wolf, exactly like the one in Remus', a black dog like Sirius' and another fawn in between them, but this one was a little bigger and it had developing horns.

"It's perfect, Sirius." said Remus.

They chose a branch to hang it on and stood back to admire their hard work. Harry had to agree with Remus. It was perfect.

* * *

After lunch, the three of them thoroughly enjoyed a three-way snowball fight together, even though Harry and Sirius lost to Remus, who turned out to have fantastic aim.

"I always said he could've been a Chaser if only he were a graceful flyer." Sirius said as they returned to the cottage for warm, homemade Butterbeer.

"Shut it and get some mugs down, Padfoot." said Remus playfully.

"Do you think he heard me call him a fairy godmother earlier?" Sirius asked Harry in a low voice, retrieving three mugs from the cupboard.

"And just what were you calling me a fairy godmother for, Sirius?" asked Remus.

Harry quickly ducked out of the kitchen, leaving Sirius to retell their conversation from earlier. The two of them soon joined Harry in the sitting room, Remus smiling to himself (Harry assumed Sirius had told him about the Uncle thing), and the three of them took their hot drinks to sit by the fire, wrapped in a blanket together.

As they listened to Muggle Christmas songs on the radio, Harry began to feel sleepy. He laid his head on Sirius' shoulder, and felt Remus lean on him. Someone took his butterbeer from his hand, and he felt Remus and Sirius both shifting so that all three of them were comfortable. The last thing he remembered were Sirius and Remus talking to him.

"Good night, Harry." said Remus.

"We love you, Prongslet." said Sirius.

Harry awoke the next morning, alone on the couch. He heard sounds in the kitchen, and got up to find Remus making breakfast.

"Aren't you spending the morning at Tonks'?" Harry asked after they greeted each other.

"I am, but not for another hour." said Remus. "We have presents to unwrap still."

"We do?"

"Of course. They're all under the tree."

Harry looked, and sure enough, there was a pile of gifts sitting under the tree. He ran upstairs to his room and returned with an armful of wrapped gifts, adding them to the pile under the tree.

"And who might those be for?"

Harry turned to see Sirius, who had just entered the house.

"Lots of people." said Harry. "Where've you been?"

"Ministry." said Sirius. "Pettigrew's trial has been set. They want me to stand witness. Scrimgeour wanted to be sure I knew how these things went."

"So they called you in on Christmas?" asked Harry.

Sirius shrugged. "They've been busy."

"Breakfast is ready!" Remus called from the kitchen.

After breakfast, they unwrapped their gifts. Harry had bought Remus a collector's set of books by Jane Austen, as he liked Muggle literature. For Sirius, he'd thought long and hard about what to get him. In the end, he'd decided to get him something from the Muggle world as well.

Sirius was enthralled for twenty minutes trying to solve the Rubix cube, free his fingers from a Chinese finger trap, and several other Muggle puzzles.

Harry unwrapped his gifts from Remus and Sirius. From Remus, he received book called Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Aurors by Runius Grick. Sirius gave him a Sneakoscope much like the one Mad-Eye Moody had.

"Those Pocket Sneakoscopes die after a while," said Sirius when Harry told him about the one Ron had given him a few years ago. "and if you want to be a professional Auror, you've got to have the equipment. That book from Remus should give you a better idea of what to expect when you start your training after Hogwarts."

After cleaning up the wrapping from the opened gifts, Remus took three packages and then flooed to Tonks' house. Sirius and Harry packed the remaining gifts, which were for the Weasleys and Hermione, into two woven baskets.

"We'll be leaving in an hour." said Sirius. "Molly's making lunch." He glanced at Harry, who was still wearing pajamas and disheveled look, and smirked. "I hope you don't plan on going like that."

"I only woke up an hour ago." Harry said, defending himself. "You're only dressed because you went to the Ministry!"

"Sure, just try to straighten your hair best you can. Molly'll have my head if she thinks I'm not taking care of you."

Sirius was right about that. The Weasley matriarch had spent the past five years making sure Harry ate seconds, thirds, and fourths whenever he sat down at her table. She always took extra care to ensure Harry's clothes were clean, and that each sock had a match. And she never failed to make Harry a Weasley sweater every Christmas.

* * *

An hour later, Harry was dressed in a red sweater and nice jeans. Sirius had changed out of the robes he'd gone to the Ministry in, and wore a t-shirt and cardigan.

Harry picked up one of the baskets of presents and stepped into the fireplace. "The Burrow!" He said, throwing down a handful of Floo powder.

A few seconds later, he was coughing up soot on the Weasley's rug. Sirius followed a few moments later, much more gracefully. With a wave of his wand, Sirius removed the soot from their clothes and the gifts.

"They're here, Mum!" Harry heard Ginny saying.

"And they've brought presents!" cried Ron. He helped Harry put them under the tree.

"Oh, welcome, dears!" cried Molly, bustling into the sitting room. She looked them both up and down. "Sirius!"

Sirius suddenly straightened to attention.

"You're still so thin! Are they not feeding you enough at Hogwarts?"

"Mum, it's Hogwarts. It's impossible to be underfed at Hogwarts." said Percy.

"Yeah, Sirius is lucky he's kept his figure. Doesn't it get harder after forty to stay thin?" said Fred.

Harry noticed all of the Weasley children, including Charlie and Percy, were there. Each of them was wearing a Weasley sweater as well.

"Oy, aren't these for them?" asked George, holding up two similarly wrapped parcels.

"No, George, those are for another Sirius and Harry." said Percy.

The others laughed as Molly took the gifts and handed one each to Harry and Sirius. They unwrapped them to discover their own Weasley sweaters. Sirius' was a deep blue with a silver A woven into it. Harry's was red with a large golden snitch on the front.

"Mum, I think you gave Sirius the wrong one." said Ron. "His name starts with an S-"

"A is for Auror, Ron." Hermione said from the stairs, wearing her own baby blue sweater. "This is Sirius' first year as an Auror since Azkaban, if you haven't noticed."

She gave Harry a quick hug and then joined Molly in the kitchen, ignoring Ron's glare.

"Bet she helped Mum make these." said Fred. "Wasn't she learning to knit a couple years ago?"

"Yeah, but she wasn't very good at it." Ron muttered.

"Where's Remus?" asked Charlie.

"He's spending the morning with Tonks and her parents." Sirius said. "He'll be here after lunch."

"Bill! Charlie! Percy!" called Mrs. Weasley. "Would you three set up some tables and a tent in the garden?"

The three oldest Weasleys left dutifully.

"Anything I can do, Molly?" Asked Sirius, who hated to feel useless.

"Oh, I've got plenty for you to do, thank you, Sirius." said Molly. "When the boys are finished with the tables, I need all of this taken out there." She motioned to a collection of mismatched plates, cups, and silverware, as well as several trays and pots, from which wafted some delicious scents.

Sirius recruited Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny to help him set the table once the boys finished.

"How come Fred and George aren't helping?" asked Ron, setting down a particularly heavy pot roast. "Or you could have used magic to do this."

"Magic isn't the solution to everything, Ron." Sirius said wisely. "And to be honest, Fred and George remind me far too much of James and myself for me to trust them with something such as this."

"Well, it looks like someone's grown up." Hermione said to Ginny once Sirius was out of earshot. "If only somebody else would."

"You mean you?" Ron snapped, stomping through the snow back to the house.

Harry looked between his two friends. "Uh… I'm going to see if Mrs. Weasley needs anymore help."

He ran back inside, wishing not for the last time that Hermione and Ron would be friends again.

After a warm and fulfilling meal, they cleaned up the tables and Harry, Hermione, Fleur and all of the Weasley children went out to the field for a game of Quidditch. Hermione, Percy, Ginny, Charlie and Fred played on one team while Fleur, Harry, Ron, Bill and George played on the other.

With no need for a Seeker, Harry, Bill, and Fleur were Chasers; George was a Beater; and Ron was Keeper. On the other team, Hermione, Charlie and Ginny were Chasers; Fred was the Beater; and Percy was Keeper. Percy was okay as a Keeper, but Ron was better, which seemed to boost Ron's confidence, and he saved most goals.

They'd been playing about twenty minutes when Remus, Sirius, and Tonks joined them. Hermione and Fleur landed quickly and offered their positions to Tonks and Sirius, who took them out of pity.

As clumsy as Tonks was on the ground, she was an old hand on the broom. But Sirius was just as good, having been a Beater during his days at Hogwarts. He took Fleur's place as a Chaser on Harry's team, and Tonks joined Charlie's team. Harry and Charlie, both skilled Seekers, had a friendly rivalry.

The score was sixty-fifty, with Harry's team in the lead, when Remus called them all down.

"Molly's shouting for us." He said once they'd all touched down. "It's getting late and cold. She wants us all in and cleaned up in fifteen minutes."

"Better get going, then." Sirius said. "We've got to put away the brooms and it's at least ten minutes for that."

"Zen 'arry and Bill's team won, no?" Fleur said.

"Sorry, Charlie." Percy said, as they reached the broom shed. "I should have saved that last goal."

Charlie patted his younger brother on the back. "No offense, Perce, but you honestly played a hell of a lot better than I expected."

Percy smiled ruefully as they took turns putting their brooms away.

Back in the Burrow, Molly had made them all hot chocolate. They took their mugs to the sitting room and enjoyed the warmth of the fire. Arthur made the mistake of asking how the game had gone, and the next half hour was filled with everyone trying to tell their version of events that led to Harry's team winning, with quite a bit of arguing.

Once everyone calmed down and started talking about other things, Molly pulled Harry aside and asked what was going on between Hermione and Ron.

Harry suddenly felt very awkward. "To be honest, Mrs. Weasley-"

"Call me Molly, dear."

"Sorry, Molly. Well, it started when Ron started dating Lavender Brown, and Hermione started dating Cormac McLaggen."

"I don't know that McLaggen fellow," said Molly. "But I thought Hermione and Lavender were friends."

"Well, I don't think it's so much about Lavender as it is who she's dating."

"Oh," Molly suddenly seemed to understand what Harry meant. "So Hermione and my little Ron…" Molly left Harry then, her face lit up.

Harry hoped Molly didn't say anything to Ron or Hermione. He didn't want the two of them angry with him and each other.

After helping themselves to some chocolate cake and treacle tart, it was time to open gifts.

Harry opened gifts of sweets, magical pranks, books about a variety of subjects, including a few more about Aurors and Defense Against the Dark Arts to go along with his sweater from Mrs. Weasley.

"She can't be serious." Ron said, showing Harry a necklace that said 'My Sweetheart' on it.

"Gee, Ron, whose sweetheart are you?" asked Fred, noticing the necklace and snatching it from him.

"Lavender Brown's?" said George mockingly as he took it from Fred.

Ron turned on a very superior looking Ginny. "You told them?"

"Serves you right for gossiping about me and Dean." Ginny said.

Harry looked at Hermione, who was sitting between Percy and Fleur. She seemed determined to ignore what Fred was holding just out of Ron's reach as she and Fleur discussed Fleur and Bill's wedding.

"That's enough, Fred, George! Give that back to Ron!" Mrs. Weasley finally said.

The twins grudgingly returned the necklace to Ron, who stuffed it into his pocket without a word. Ginny looked pleased with herself. She caught Harry's eye and he quickly looked away, suddenly finding Remus, Tonks, Arthur, Bill, and Sirius' conversation very interesting.

"Most of them are on Greyback's side." Remus was saying. "They don't trust me as much… I've got the obvious signs of having tried to live amongst wizards…"

"Isn't Greyback the werewolf that bit you?" Tonks asked.

"Yes, and for the longest time I didn't know it was him. I used to pity the werewolf that bit me, because I thought he didn't have control of his actions…"

"But not Fenrir Greyback." said Sirius. "He's ruthless. It's his mission to turn every wizard into a werewolf. He purposely places himself near his victims on the Full Moon so he's close enough to bite them. He's high on our Wanted list."

"And he specializes in children." Remus said. "Bite them young, he thinks, and raise them away from their parents, teach them to hate wizards. He's convinced nearly every werewolf out there in the underground that the Dark side is where they'll benefit the most."

"Well, considering how well wizards have treated werewolves it's no wonder they're not very friendly to us." Arthur said.

"But don't they realize that it's the pureblood mania that started all these prejudices? Once they've outlived their usefulness to him, Voldemort will turn against them as well." Tonks argued.

"They don't see it that way. They only know what Greyback has told them. They think Voldemort can give them a better life." said Remus. "And prey. They want revenge for the way they've been treated."

"The world's not perfect." Sirius said. "Everyone, even people on our side, have prejudices."

"And what am I prejudiced against, may I ask?" said Tonks.

"You can't tell me, that even as a Hufflepuff, you weren't prejudiced against another House in Hogwarts, Tonks." Sirius said.

Tonks crossed her arms. "Oh, fine. I had a lot of House pride."

Sirius smirked. "Still do."

An hour later, sounds of sleepiness filled the room. Sirius stood and stretched.

"Molly, since you've got all the kids home, why don't we take Hermione tonight?" Sirius offered. "We've got a guest room. Ginny can come, too, if she wants."

"Oh, thank you, Sirius. The house hasn't been this packed in ages." Molly smiled.

Ginny was more than happy to go with them, as it meant she didn't have to share a room with Fleur. She and Hermione quickly packed their things to take to Crystal Cottage.

After many hugs and good-byes, Harry gathered all his things into one of the now-empty baskets they'd brought, and flooed home after Sirius. He dropped his gifts just inside his room and collapsed onto the bed, only getting up for a few minutes to put on pajamas and take off his glasses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Treacle Tart is my favorite dessert. I enjoy making it, and I'm apparently the only one of my siblings who can make a good pie crust. Of course, if you want any other baked good, you're better off asking one of them...


	19. X's and O's

Harry awoke the next morning and dressed before heading downstairs for breakfast, which was unusual for him, but for some reason, he didn't want to look unkempt in front of Ginny.

When Harry entered the sitting room, he found Sirius and Remus sitting on the couch, in the company of none other than the Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, himself. Neither Sirius nor Remus looked happy, and Harry felt his stomach doing back flips.

What if Scrimgeour wanted to send Harry back to the Dursleys? The thought made Harry want to run back upstairs and hide but also pull out his wand and hex something at the same time.

"Harry!" Sirius said, noticing his godson. "Come here, please."

Harry reluctantly joined them, taking a seat between Sirius and Remus, directly across from the rather stern-looking Minister.

"Harry, this is Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister of Magic." Sirius said, sounding slightly annoyed. This surprised Harry, as the last time Sirius had spoken of the Minister, he seemed to admire him, or at least respect him.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter." said Scrimgeour, reaching over the tea tray between them to shake his hand.

Harry returned the handshake. "You too, sir."

"We were just discussing you." Scrimgeour said, and Harry's stomach started it's gymnastics routine again.

"And I've already said no." Sirius said. Harry felt a little bit better.

"I believe it is Mr. Potter's decision." Scrimgeour insisted.

"He's sixteen. I'm his guardian." said Sirius. "And I said no."

"Can you at least tell Harry what you're talking about?" Remus requested, putting an arm around Harry.

"Mr. Potter," Scrimgeour said. "I'm sure you're aware of what everyone has been calling you lately. The 'Chosen One' who will defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Yes, sir. I'm aware." Harry said, thinking to himself that he'd have to have been living under a rock to not be aware.

"And because of the…" Scrimgeour cleared his throat. "Unfortunate events of last year… the Ministry has fallen out of favor in the Wizarding Community. But all the rumors flying around about you being the one destined to defeat You-Know-Who, it would mean a lot if you were to stand by the Ministry."

"And what do you mean by that?" Harry asked. "'Stand by the Ministry'?"

"Well, certainly nothing onerous… but if you were to be seen popping in and out of the Ministry regularly… you'd have a chance to talk to my successor as Head of the Auror office, Gawain Robbards. Dolores Umbridge has told me you wish to be an Auror."

"She did, did she?" asked Sirius darkly.

Harry clenched his fist. "So you want it to look like I'm working for the Ministry?"

"Yes, that is the impression we'd like to give people. Give them hope, you see. Make it seem like you're more involved."

"But wouldn't that also give the impression that I support what the Ministry is doing?" asked Harry.

Scrimgeour stopped for a moment. "Yes."

"I don't think that's the impression I want to give, Minister." said Harry. "After everything the Ministry said about me last year, and the fact that you still have Dolores Umbridge working for you, there's no way I can 'stand by it'. You haven't learned from Fudge's mistakes, and I'm afraid I can't support that."

Scrimgeour said nothing, simply giving him a hard look. Sirius looked rather proud, and Remus calmly sipped his tea.

"Well, there you have it." Sirius said. "He said no, though it wouldn't have mattered what he said because I'm his guardian."

Scrimgeour stood. "So you choose, like Dumbledore, to disassociate yourself from the Ministry."

"The Ministry hasn't done anything that makes me want to associate with it." Harry said. "And Dumbledore, too."

Scrimgeour scowled. "What is Dumbledore up to? Where does he go during his long absences?"

"No idea." Harry said.

"And you wouldn't tell me if you knew, would you?"

"Of course not."

"Well, then, I shall have to find out another way."

"You know, you seem cleverer than Fudge." said Harry. "So I would think you'd have learned from his mistake. He tried to interfere at Hogwarts, and if you notice, he's no longer Minister, but Dumbledore's still Headmaster. I'd leave Dumbledore alone."

"I see you're Dumbledore's man through and through, aren't you?"

"That's right." Harry said. "Glad we sorted that out."

Scrimgeour fumed. "Well, thank you for the tea, Mr. Lupin."

"Of course, Minister." said Remus, an obvious smirk on his face.

Scrimgeour turned on his heel and left the cottage without another word.

Harry turned to his godfather. "I hope he doesn't fire you for that."

"He won't. He's not like Fudge. Besides, Nigel would start an Auror riot if I was fired."

"Speaking of Nigel," said Tonks behind them, startling the three of them. She yawned. "Isn't that him walking up the path?"

"Yeah, he owled and asked if he and his family could visit today." Sirius said.

"Harry, go up and wake the girls, would you?" Remus asked.

"Don't bother." Tonks said. "They're already up. Should be down in a few minutes."

Sirius welcomed Nigel and his family into the cottage, and introduced them to everyone. Nigel introduced his wife, Astrid, and his two daughters, the seven-year-old twins, Evelina and Christina. The two of them quickly took a liking to Tonks, who entertained them with her Metamorphmagus powers.

Nigel asked Sirius to take a stroll around the garden, while Remus gave Astrid a tour of the house. She loved every bit of it, particularly the kitchen, as she was a Muggle-born. Hermione, who came downstairs with Ginny a few minutes later, seemed to feel a kinship to Astrid, and they hit it off as Hermione joined the tour.

Ginny and Harry were alone in an awkward silence. Thankfully, Ginny brought up Quidditch and they went in-depth discussing tactics to use in their next practice.

And that was where they were when Sirius returned alone, looking very distraught.

* * *

"These plants are lovely, even in the winter." Nigel said, as they entered the garden next to the cottage.

"Yeah, Remus is pretty protective of his garden." said Sirius. "Good for me, too. I get half my potions ingredients from here."

"So how long have you been friends with Remus?" asked Nigel.

"Since First Year at Hogwarts. It was just me, James, Remus, and Peter back then. They were simpler times."

"And the young woman, Tonks, is Remus' partner?"

"Yeah, I know she's young, but she and Remus are perfect for each other." said Sirius, suddenly wondering where this conversation was going.

"And you? You don't have anyone?" Nigel studied a particularly beautiful rose next to him.

"No, not really. I've been focused on work and my godson, so I haven't been looking or anything…" Sirius eyed Nigel. He was sure his Auror partner knew these things already.

Nigel was silent for a few moments, until he finally spoke, his eyes still on the plants. "Did I ever tell you that my wife and I are polyamorous?"

Sirius thought about it. "No, I don't recall you ever mentioning that. I don't mind, of course."

Nigel finally looked him. "Do you know what pansexual means?"

"Um… you don't care about gender or gender identity and such?"

"Basically."

Nigel hadn't looked away and Sirius felt as though his eyes were boring holes into him. Nigel took a few steps towards him until they were only inches apart.

"What're you-"

His question was lost as Nigel closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to Sirius'.

Sirius couldn't move. He wasn't sure what to do. He hadn't been kissed in over fifteen years, and never by a man.

Nigel pulled away, and smiled at Sirius. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time."

Sirius stared at him.

"Are you alright?" Nigel asked. He let go of Sirius, who took a step back.

"Nigel, I…" Sirius was at a loss for words. "I… I'm not… I don't…"

"Shit…" Nigel seemed to realize what Sirius wanted to say. "Shit, Sirius. I'm sorry. I thought you were…"

"No… I'm not." Sirius looked at him apologetically.

Nigel looked embarrassed, and Sirius could see tears gathering in his eyes.

"Nigel, I'm sorry…" said Sirius, reaching out to comfort him, but Nigel backed away.

"I-I'm gonna go." Nigel said, not looking at Sirius.

And then he ran.

"Nigel, wait!" Sirius called, chasing after him.

He realized it was futile, as Nigel was a much faster runner than he was. He returned to the house where his godson and Ginny were alone, talking.

He heard Harry ask what was wrong, but he just asked where Astrid was. Ginny ran upstairs to get her.

"Nigel's left." Sirius said. "He and I… um…"

Astrid smiled kindly at him. "Don't worry about it, Sirius. Evie! Christie! We're leaving."

The twins ran down the stairs to their mother, and she took each on by the hand, thanked everyone for their hospitality and strolled out of the house and down the path in the direction her husband had gone.

"Sirius, what happened?" Remus asked, but Sirius refused to look at him.

"I… don't want to talk about it right now." He went upstairs before anyone else could question him and locked himself in his room.

Pulling off his coat, he lay down on his bed, trying to understand what just happened.

Nigel had kissed him, that much he was sure of. And Sirius hadn't returned his feelings. Then Nigel had run away.

He felt terrible. He'd reacted badly, and that had upset Nigel.

'He kissed me.' Sirius thought, and suddenly he was thinking about the way Nigel's lips had felt on his, and he regretted not kissing him back.

Sirius bolted upright.

He felt the urge to go and find Nigel, to apologize for his stupidity and beg forgiveness. But most all, he wanted Nigel to kiss him again. It had felt… good, and Sirius wanted to feel it again.

Sirius pulled on his coat and cloak, grabbed his wand, ran down the stairs, shouted to Remus that he'd be back later, and dashed down the path to the waterfall.

* * *

Astrid answered the door when Sirius reached Nigel's house. She smiled at him and invited him inside.

"Nigel!" she called.

Nigel entered the room and froze at the sight of Sirius.

"Nige, I'm taking the girls to Mona's. Be a dear and listen to what Sirius has to say." With that, she and the twins left, and Nigel and Sirius were left to stare awkwardly at each other.

It took Sirius a moment to realize he should probably speak first.

"Nigel… I'm sorry… for the way I reacted. I was being ridiculous and you didn't deserve that."

"S'not your fault, though, is it?" Nigel said, staring at his shoes. "I should have asked you before… I just thought that you felt the same way."

"I don't know if this will make sense to you…" Sirius said. "but I did… I do feel the same way. I just didn't realize it. I thought I saw you as a friend or brother, but now I know that what I feel is more than that."

Nigel looked up at his words, his eyes wide.

"I suppose what I'm trying to say is…" said Sirius, a pleading look in his eyes. "Will you give me a second chance?"

Nigel stared at him before closing the distance between them once more, and this time, Sirius kissed him back.

Pulling apart, Sirius laughed. "I'll take that as a yes."

* * *

When Sirius returned home, he found only Harry and Remus waiting for him in the sitting room.

"Ginny flooed home and Tonks took Hermione back to her parents." Remus explained. "What happened, Padfoot?" He asked as Sirius sat down on the couch.

Sirius didn't know how to explain it. He hadn't thought about what he was going to tell his friend and godson.

"Nigel kissed me." He finally said.

Harry's jaw dropped. Remus sat up a little straighter.

"And what did you do?" Remus asked.

"I freaked out, and he ran away." Sirius said. "I just went to apologize for it."

"And?"

Remus was really going to make him say it.

"We're together now." Sirius said.

"But what about his wife?" Harry asked.

"Astrid and Nigel are both polyamorous." Remus said. At Harry's confused face, he explained further. "They romantically love more than one person at a time. And unlike in the Muggle world, wizards can marry more than one person."

"Oh, I didn't know that." Harry said simply.

"There is one problem." Remus said. "Sirius, you swore you'd never date another blonde back in sixth Year. Are you going back on your word?"

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "Remus, my friend, you should have read the fine print. It specifically said 'blonde women'. There was no mention of blonde men."

Remus chucked a pillow at his face.


	20. Foggy Thoughts

A few days after New Year, all of the students flooed back to Hogwarts rather than taking the train. The Ministry had arranged this one-off connection to return students quickly and safely, after several families had been attacked over the break.

Harry and Sirius spun out of Professor McGonagall's fireplace one after the other.

"Evening, Potter. Auror Black." said the Deputy Headmistress, checking off something on her list. "Try not to get too much ash on the rug, please."

"Not a problem." Sirius waved his wand and cleaned them both up. "We'll be off then."

Sirius led the way to Gryffindor tower. Just before they turned the corner to the corridor the Fat Lady's portrait was in, he took Harry into an empty classroom.

"Harry, I'm going to give this back to you now." Sirius said, holding out the Invisibility Cloak. "It's dangerous for you to be without protection. But I want you to promise me you won't concern yourself with Malfoy again."

"I promise, Sirius." Harry said.

Sirius smiled and pulled Harry into a warm embrace.

"I love you, Prongslet."

"Love you, too, Padfoot."

With that, the two of them parted ways. Harry returned to Gryffindor tower to unpack and Sirius headed off to find Nigel and begin his first shift.

Harry climbed through the portrait hole, and was rather annoyed to see that Ron and Lavender were already snogging. But he was more enraged to see Ginny in a corner snogging Dean. He quickly spotted Hermione, who was reading a book as far from Ron as possible. After putting his things away, Harry sat down next to Hermione.

"Do they both have to do it in public?" Hermione whispered.

Harry grunted, not wanting to talk about it. "Did you see the notice for Apparition lessons?"

"Of course. I've already signed up."

"Same here. Sirius told me they'd be doing them."

"How is Sirius? Last I saw him, he was very upset after Nigel left."

"He's great, actually." Harry quickly told her what happened.

Hermione nearly dropped her book. "Sirius… and a man? He always struck me as a… well… lady's man."

"Yeah, I know. Remus told me once Sirius dated every girl their age except my mum when they were in Hogwarts." Harry paused. "I think Nigel is a few years younger than Sirius, so they didn't know each other."

"He's not as young as Tonks. I only know because I asked her. But Willow was in the same class at Tonks." said Hermione. "You know, the other Auror in charge of Duelling Club?"

"I know who she is." said Harry. "She seems really talented."

"I think she's a great influence on the Slytherins. Tonks said she's an Order member, too. As a former Slytherin herself, she could inspire students from that house to join the Light side."

Harry had to agree with her. He almost made a comment about Malfoy, but then remembered his promise to Sirius and held his tongue. This was going to be harder than he thought.

* * *

The next evening was another lesson with Dumbledore. Harry arrived only just in time, as he'd been badgered with questions about Apparition all day by his classmates. Apparently Harry was the only one who'd Apparated before, even though it was only Side-Along Apparition.

Harry sat down in the seat Dumbledore offered, somewhat breathless from running to be on time.

"I hear you met the Minister of Magic over Christmas?"

"Yes, sir." Harry said. "He's not very happy with me."

"No," sighed Dumbledore. "Nor is he with me, either."

"He wanted me to tell the Wizarding community that the Ministry's doing a wonderful job." Harry said.

Dumbledore smiled. "It was Fudge's idea originally. He wanted to arrange a meeting with you during his last days in office. He hoped you would give him your support -"

"After everything Fudge did last year?" said Harry angrily. "After Umbridge?"

"Indeed, I told Cornelius there was no chance of it, but the idea did not die when he left office. Within hours of Scrimgeour's appointment, he demanded that I arrange a meeting with you. It appears that Rufus found a way to corner you at last."

"By using Sirius?" asked Harry.

"Yes. One of Scrimgeour's last acts as Head of the Auror Department was hiring Sirius as an Auror. He obviously used that fact to invite himself to your house."

"He accused me of being 'Dumbledore's man through and through." said Harry suddenly.

"How very rude of him."

"I told him I was."

Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Behind Harry, Fawkes the phoenix let out a low, soft, musical cry. To Harry's intense embarrassment, he suddenly realized that Dumbledore's bright blue eyes looked rather watery, and stared hastily at his own knees. When Dumbledore spoke, however, his voice was quite steady.

"I am very touched, Harry."

"Scrimgeour wanted to know where you go when you're not at Hogwarts." said Harry, still looking at his knees.

"Yes, he is very nosy about that." said Dumbledore, now sounding cheerful, and Harry thought it safe to look up again. "He has even attempted to have me followed. Amusing, really. He set Dawlish to tail me. It wasn't kind. I have already been forced to jinx Dawlish once; I did it again with the greatest regret."

"So they still don't know where you go?" asked Harry.

"No, they don't, and the time is not quite right for you to know, either. Now, I suggest we press on, unless there is anything else you'd like to discuss?"

"No, sir." said Harry, once again finding it difficult to obey Sirius and not think about Malfoy and Snape.

"I have two more memories to show you this evening, both obtained with enormous difficulty, and the second of them is, I think, the most important I have collected."

Harry didn't say anything, ready for the lesson.

"So, we meet this evening to continue the tale of Tom Riddle, whom we left last lesson poised on the threshold of his years at Hogwarts. You will remember how excited he was to hear that he was a wizard, that he refused my company on a trip to Diagon Alley, and that I, in turn, warned him against his continue thievery when he arrived at school.

"Well, the start of the school year arrived and with it came Tom Riddle, a quiet boy in his secondhand robes, who lined up with the other first years to be sorted. He was placed in Slytherin House almost the moment that the Sorting hat touched his head. How soon Riddle learned that the famous founder of the House could talk to snakes, I do not know - perhaps that very evening. The knowledge can only have excited him and increased his sense of self-importance.

"However, if he was frightening or impressing fellow Slytherins with displays of Parseltongue in their common room, no hint of it reached the staff. He showed no sign of outward arrogance or aggression at all. As an unusually talented and very good-looking orphan, he naturally drew attention and sympathy from the staff almost the moment of his arrival. He seemed polite, quiet and thirsty for knowledge. Nearly all were most favorably impressed by him."

"Didn't you tell them, sir, what he had been like when you met him at the orphanage?" asked Harry.

"No, I did not. Though he had shown no hint of remorse, it was possible that he felt sorry for how he had behaved before and was resolved to turn over a fresh leaf. I chose to give him that chance."

"But you didn't really trust him sir, did you? He told me… the Riddle that came out of the diary said, 'Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teacher did."

"Let us say that I did not take it for granted that he was trustworthy. I had, as I have already indicated, resolved to keep a close eye on him, and so I did. He had the sense never to try and charm me as he charmed so many of my colleagues.

"As he moved up the school, he gathered about him a group of dedicated friends; I call them that, for want of a better term, although as I have already indicated, Riddle undoubtedly felt no affection for any of them. This group had a kind of dark glamour within the castle. They were a motley collection; a mixture of the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking shared glory, and the thuggish gravitating toward a leader who could show them more refined forms of cruelty. In other words, they were the forerunners of the Death Eaters, and indeed some of them became the first Death Eaters after leaving Hogwarts.

"Rigidly controlled by Riddle, they were never detected in open wrongdoings, although their seven years at Hogwarts were marked by a number of nasty incidents to which they were never satisfactorily linked, the most serious of which was, of course, the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, which resulted in the death of a girl. As you know, Hagrid wa wrongly accused of that crime.

"I have not been able to find many memories of Riddle at Hogwarts. Few who knew him then are prepared to talk about him; they are too terrified. What I know, I found out after he had left Hogwarts, after much painstaking effort, after tracing those few who could be tricked into speaking, after searching old records and questioning Muggle and wizard witnesses alike.

"Those whom I could persuade to talk told me that Riddle was obsessed with his parentage. This is understandable, of course. He had grown up in an orphanage and naturally wished to know how he came to be there. It seems that he searched in vain for some trace of Tom Riddle senior at Hogwarts. Finally, he was forced to accept that his father had never set foot in Hogwarts. I believe it was then that he dropped the name forever, assumed the identity of Lord Voldemort, and began his investigations into his previously despised mother's family - the woman whom he had thought could not be a witch if she had succumbed to the shameful human weakness of death.

"All he had to go on was a single name, 'Marvolo', which he knew from those who ran the orphanage had been his grandfather's name. Finally, he discovered the existence of Slytherin's surviving line. In the summer of his sixteenth, he left the orphanage to which he returned annually and set off to find his Gaunt relatives. And, now, Harry, if you will stand."

They plunged into the first memory, in which they were once again in the Gaunt House, now more filthy than before. Slumped in an armchair was Morfin, who nearly attacked Tom Riddle when he entered the house, believing him to be Tom Riddle senior, but he stopped when Riddle spoke Parseltongue to him. From Morfin, Tom learned who his father was, and his witch mother had run off with him. But Riddle senior had returned, without Merope. Suddenly everything went dark, and Dumbledore and Harry left the memory.

Dumbledore explained after that Morfin could not remember anything else from that day. He awoke the next morning, and Marvolo's ring was gone. Meanwhile, the three Riddles in Little Hangleton, Tom Riddle senior and his parents, were found dead in their house. The younger Tom placed the blame on Morfin, who admitted to the crime.

"He was proud, he said, to have killed the Muggles, had been waiting his chance all three years. He handed over his wand, which proved at once to have been used to kill the Riddles. And he permitted himself to be led off to Azkaban without a fight. All that disturbed him was that his father's ring had disappeared."

"So Voldemort stole Morfin's wand and used it?"

"That's right. We have no memories to show us this, but I think we can be fairly certain what happened. Voldemort stupefied his uncle, took his wand and proceeded across the valley to the Riddle house. There he murdered his own father and grandparents - the Muggle man who had abandoned his mother, thus obliterating the unworthy Riddle line and revenging himself upon the father who never wanted him. Then he returned to the Gaunt hovel, performed some magic that would plant a false memory in his uncle's mind, laid his wand beside him, pocketed the ancient ring he wore, and departed."

"And Morfin never realized he hadn't done it?"

"Never. He gave, as I say, a full and boastful confession. It took a great deal of Legilimency to coax the real memory out of him. I was able to secure a visit to Morfin in the last weeks of his life, by which time I was attempting to discover as much as I could about Voldemort's past. I extracted the memory with difficulty and, upon seeing what it contained, attempted to use it to secure Morfin's release from Azkaban. Before the Ministry reached their decision, however, Morfin had died."

"Now let us move on to the second memory before it gets too late. This will not take long."

And they dove into the second memory. There, they found a much younger Horace Slughorn, in his office, with half a dozen boys sitting around him. One of them Harry recognized at once: Voldemort was the most handsome and looked the most relaxed amongst the boys. Harry saw, with a jolt, that he was wearing Marvolo's ring. He'd already killed his father.

When all the other boys left, Voldemort approached Slughorn and asked him a question about Horcruxes.

Suddenly, a dense fog filled the room and Harry could hear Slughorn's voice boom out: "I don't know anything about Horcruxes and I wouldn't tell you if I did! Now get out of here at once and don't let me catch you mentioning them again!"

Dumbledore and Harry then left the memory.

"As you might have noticed, that memory has been tampered with." Dumbledore said. "Professor Slughorn has meddled with his own recollections. I think he is ashamed of what he remembers, and has tried to rework the memory to show himself in a better light, obliterating those parts which he does not wish me to see. It is, as you will have noticed, very crudely done, and that is all to the good, for it shows that the true memory is still there beneath the alterations.

"And so, for the first time, I am giving you homework, Harry. It will be your job to persuade Professor Slughorn to divulge the real memory, which will undoubtedly be our most crucial piece of information of all."

Harry left Dumbledore's office very nervous about his task, and unsure of how to proceed with it.

* * *

The next day, after several suggestions from both Hermione and Ron, separately, because Hermione still refused to stay in Ron's presence longer than it took to give him a contemptuous look, Harry made his first attempt at retrieving the memory.

Hermione and Ron were both much less supportive of Harry after Potions class that day. They were supposed to be mixing antidotes based on the ingredients from unnamed poisons they were given. Harry, who could find nothing to help him in the Prince's book, was desperate as he realized his reputation as the best Potionmaker in class was at stake.

At the last second, he saw a scribbled note about bezoars and suddenly remembered something Snape had said in his very first Potions lesson. He quickly ran to the cupboard and retrieved a bezoar. Slughorn was infinitely amused by Harry's seemingly cheeky act, and awarded him ten points for Gryffindor.

Ron was annoyed Harry didn't tell him about the bezoar, and Hermione was enraged that Harry hadn't even done the task set to them, but still managed to impress Slughorn. Neither of them wished him good luck as they left him behind with Slughorn.

"Harry m'boy! What can I do for you?" Slughorn asked, noticing Harry was still there.

"Well, sir, I wondered if you might help me." Harry said.

"Of course, of course! And what can I do for you?"

"You see, I was reading a book the other day, from the Restricted Section in the library, and I came across a word I'd never heard of."

Slughorn's eyebrows rose. "And just what was this word?"

"I wouldn't be asking you if I didn't think you could help, sir."

"Oh, go on, then! What did you find?"

"Horcrux."

It was as though Slughorn had been stung by a very ferocious beetle. His face changed to both fear and anger. "Dumbledore put you up to this, hasn't he? Well, you won't be getting any help from me! Go on, now, go!"

With both of his friend's upset with him over the potions lesson, Harry decided to talk to Sirius and told him about his new mission that evening through the two-way mirror. Sirius, unfortunately did not have any ideas.

"He's a tricky one." Sirius said. "And you'll have to be more careful now he knows what you're up to."

Harry sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Harry, listen." Sirius said. "If there's one thing I know, it's that you can do this. You managed to convince Slughorn to return to Hogwarts without even trying. This is just going to take more effort. But in the end, you'll pull through. You'll think of something. And I'll let you know if I do as well."

"Thanks, Sirius." Harry said, feeling slightly better. "How's Nigel?"

"He's taking a shower right now, but he's fine."

"Ah, I was wondering why he was so quiet." Harry heard the sound of a door opening.

"Is that Harry?" Asked Nigel in the background.

Sirius seemed to be looking at something behind the mirror. "Nigel, for god's sake. Stay over there and put some clothes on."

"But my clothes are over there."

Sirius looked behind him at what appeared to be a desk, with a set of neatly folded robes, with a pair of shiny boots on top. Harry saw an arm reach for the clothes and suddenly the mirror spun and he was staring at Sirius' bed.

"I was going to hand them to you." Harry heard Sirius say.

"You know, it's not my fault you decided to talk to your godson when you knew I was in the shower." Nigel said, jokingly.

"Normally you take a lot longer." The mirror turned back to Sirius' face. Harry noticed the clothes behind him were gone.

"Maybe I should go." Harry said awkwardly.

Sirius, whose face was a little red, nodded and bade him goodbye.

"Bye, Harry!" He heard Nigel call cheerfully.

"Bye, Nige." said Harry, and then the mirror cleared.

With nothing else to do, Harry went up to his dorm room and fell asleep.


	21. Not-So-Happy Birthday

The Duelling Tournament and Apparition lessons began on the first Saturday in February.

Each House had its own in-House tournament. The winners of each tournament would be named House Champions, and would then compete against each other in six duels, much like the Quidditch Cup championship. The duellist with the most points, which were scored by the four Aurors in charge based on performance, would be named the Interhouse Champion and their house won the Duelling Cup.

Before the official tournament, there was a preliminary round, in which all students wishing to compete were paired with an opponent to spar with. The winners of this round were allowed to enter the tournament.

Thirty-two Gryffindors made it past the preliminaries, including Harry, Hermione, Neville, Ron, and Ginny. Luna made it as well, in the Ravenclaw House Tournament. With no time left due to Apparition lessons beginning, the Duelling participants were cleared out of the Great Hall.

The sixth years waited outside the hall while the Ministry officials prepared the Great Hall for the first Apparition lesson.

Finally, the doors opened once more and they entered to find many small, circular hoops lying scattered across the floor. They were just large enough for a person to stand in. Apparently, it was possible for the Headmaster to temporarily lower the Anti-Apparition wards in a part of the school, though it did not allow people to Apparate in or out of the castle.

The instructor, Wilkie Twycross, carried on about the three D's of Apparition: Destination, Determination and Deliberation.

They each stood a distance away from a hoop and were given a chance to Apparate into the circle. Harry tried very hard to imagine himself in the circle, and turned on his heel.

But when he opened his eyes, he was still the same spot. He watched for a moment as Ernie turned on his heel so fast and hard that he twirled through the air and landed in his circle. He looked extremely excited, thinking he'd actually Apparated, until he noticed Seamus and Dean laughing at him. Harry laughed, and turned back to his own hoop to try again.

There was suddenly an ear-splitting scream. Hannah Abbott had splinched herself. She was in the circle, but part of her leg was left behind. The Heads of Houses fell upon her immediately and a few seconds later, her leg was back where it should be, though it took her a few minutes to stop crying.

At the end of the day, nobody succeeded in a true Apparition. Even Hermione didn't manage to do more than spin around. The sixth years left the great hall slightly crestfallen but not feeling too bad since nobody had any reason to brag. Ernie, of course, was teased by some of his friends for his graceful pirouette through the air.

Hermione stepped in. "At least you didn't splinch yourself like Hannah. That would have been worse than the teasing. She's still very upset."

Ernie felt a little more optimistic after that.

* * *

As February turned to March, the weather became windy as well as wet. And to everyone's indignation, the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend was canceled.

Ron was the most upset by this. "It was on my birthday!"

"Not a big surprise though, is it?" said Harry. "Not after what happened to Katie."

"But now all I've got to look forward to is stupid Apparition!" said Ron grumpily. "Big birthday treat. Even the Duelling Tournament's over."

Three lessons on, Apparition was proving as difficult as ever, though a few more people had managed to splinch themselves. Nobody was very fond of Wilkie Twycross and his three D's, which had brought about a number of nicknames for him, including Dogbreath and Dunghead.

As for the Duelling Tournament, Ron had made it to the final 8, defeated by Hermione, who was pleased with herself. Harry, who already felt terrible for winning against Ginny in the same round, was forced to battle Hermione in the semi-finals. He won, and moved on to the final round, where he was met, to his surprise, by Neville. Neville looked nervous to be duelling Harry, but he held his own, and after a long battle, managed to disarm him. Harry was proud of Neville, even though he'd wanted to win.

Neville further shocked the school by going on to defeat the three other duellists in the Inter-House Championship, claiming the Duelling Cup for Gryffindor House.

The morning of Ron's birthday arrived, and Harry slipped out of bed to give Ron his birthday gift.

"Happy Birthday, Ron."

"Cheers." said Ron, as he began opening his presents, which were piled at the end of his bed.

Harry began rummaging through his own trunk, looking for a pair of socks that actually matched. He pulled out half the things in his trunk before he found two black socks with a red stripe at the top, next to the rolled-up socks in which he was still keeping his bottle of Felix Felicis.

While Harry started to get dressed, Ron exclaimed about each gift he unwrapped, including a pair of Keeper gloves from Harry and a heavy gold watch with odd symbols around the edge and tiny moving stars instead of hands from his parents. He offered Harry a box of Chocolate Cauldrons, which Harry declined.

"Come on then, we'd better get down to breakfast." Harry said, as he finished tying his shoes..

"Alright then, but I'm not going to eat anything."

Harry looked at Ron, surprised. "Did you just eat that whole box of Chocolate Cauldrons?"

"It's not that…" said Ron. "You… you wouldn't understand. Harry, I can't stop thinking about her!"

"Why does that stop you from having breakfast?" asked Harry, hoping Ron wasn't going to suddenly start calling Lavender "Lav-Lav."

"I don't think she knows I exist." Ron said.

"What? You've been snogging her for months, haven't you?"

Ron blinked. "Who're you talking about?"

"Who're you talking about?"

"Romilda Vane." Ron's face seemed to illuminate when he said it.

Harry stared at him. "You're joking, right?"

"I think… Harry, I think I love her."

Harry looked at the Chocolate Cauldrons Ron had eaten. "Where did you get those?" He asked.

"They were a gift." Ron said.

"You found them on the floor, didn't you?"

"They fell off my bed, alright? Remember, I offered you one!"

"They didn't fall off your bed, you prat, they were mine! Romilda Vane gave me them before Christmas, and they're full of love potions!" Harry told him.

But Ron only heard one word. "Romilda? Harry, do you know Romilda? Can you introduce me?"

Harry thought for a moment, and then realized there was only one thing to do. "Yeah, I'll introduce you. Come on, she'll be in Slughorn's office. She takes extra Potions classes with him."

Ron gleefully followed Harry out of Gryffindor tower, brushing off Lavender at the portrait hole. Harry led him to Slughorn's office and knocked on the door. Slughorn was surprised, and still dressed in his pajamas, but he allowed Harry to bring Ron inside and began mixing up an antidote to the potion.

"Now drink this up," said Slughorn, handing Ron a glass of clear liquid. "It's a tonic for the nerves, keep you calm when Romilda arrives, you know."

"Brilliant." said Ron eagerly, and he gulped the antidote down noisily.

For a moment, Ron beamed at them. Then, very slowly, his grin sagged and vanished, to be replaced by an expression of utmost horror.

"Back to normal, then?" said Harry, grinning. "Thanks a lot, Professor."

"Don't mention it, m'boy, don't mention it." said Slughorn as Ron collapsed into a nearby armchair, looking devastated. "Pick-me-up, that's what he needs." He bustled over to the table with a bottle of oak-matured mead, and poured three glasses.

Harry and Ron took the offered glasses, and Slughorn began a toast to Ron's birthday. But before he finished, Ron had gulped down the whole glass, and collapsed onto the ground.

"Ron!" Harry shouted frantically as Ron's skin turned blue. "Professor, do something!"

"B-but I don't understand…" Slughorn mumbled.

Realizing he'd be no help, Harry slipped past the professor and opened his cupboard. He quickly found what he was looking for, snatching it from its box and dashing back to Ron's side. He wrenched open Ron's mouth, shoved the bezoar into his throat and waited.

Ron gave a great shudder, a rattling gasp, and his body became limp and still.

* * *

"So, all in all, not one of Ron's better birthdays?" said Fred.

Ron was asleep in a bed in the hospital wing. Harry, Hermione and Ginny sat around him. Fred and George had arrived a few minutes after them.

"This isn't how we imagined handing over our present." said George grimly, putting down a large wrapped gift on Ron's bedside table and sitting beside Ginny.

"Yeah, when we pictured the scene, he was conscious." said Fred.

"There we were in Hogsmeade, waiting to surprise him-" said George.

"You were in Hogsmeade?" asked Ginny.

"We were thinking of buying Zonko's." said Fred gloomily. "But a fat lot of good it'll do us if you lot aren't allowed out at weekends to buy our stuff anymore."

He sat down next to Harry. "How exactly did it happen, Harry?"

Harry retold the story he'd already recounted to Dumbledore, McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, Hermione and Ginny.

"Madam Pomfrey says he'll have to stay up here a week or so… keep taking essence of rue…"

"Blimey, it was lucky you thought of a bezoar." said George.

"Lucky there was one in the room." said Harry, who kept turning cold at the thought of what would have happened if he had not been able to lay hands on the little stone.

Hermione gave an almost inaudible sniff. She had been very quiet all day, except when she asked Harry what had happened.

"Do Mum and Dad know?" asked Fred.

"They've already been to see him." said Ginny. "Percy is with them up in Dumbledore's office, but they'll be back soon."

For the next few minutes, all of them, with the exception of Hermione, began to theorize who the poison had been for. They quickly decided that the target hadn't been Ron, and that it must have been Slughorn, or quite possibly Dumbledore.

"Er-my-nee." croaked Ron unexpectedly from between them.

They all fell silent, but after a moment they heard him snoring.

Hagrid rushed in at that moment, and after making sure Ron was okay, he wondered aloud whether somebody had a grudge against the Gryffindor Quidditch team, considering Katie and Ron had both been attacked.

Hermione spoke suddenly. "I don't think it's Quidditch, but I think there's a connection between the attacks."

"How d'you work that out?" asked Fred.

"Well, for one thing, they both ought to have been fatal and weren't, although that was pure luck. And for another, neither the poison nor the necklace seems to have reached the person who was supposed to be killed. Of course," she added broodingly, "that makes the person behind this even more dangerous in a way, because they don't seem to care how many people they finish off before they actually reach their victim."

Before anybody could respond to this, the doors opened and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hurried in, Percy right behind. Sirius and Nigel stood in the entrance. Mrs. Weasley seized hold of Harry and hugged him very tightly. "Dumbledore's told us how you saved him with the bezoar," she sobbed. "Oh, Harry, what can we say? You saved Ginny… you saved Arthur… now you've saved Ron…"

"Don't be… I didn't…" Harry wasn't really sure what to say.

"Half our family does seem to owe you their lives, now I stop and think about it." said Mr. Weasley in a constricted voice.

"Yeah," said Percy. "It was a lucky day for our family when Ron decided to sit in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Harry."

Harry could not think of any reply to this and was almost glad when Madam Pomfrey reminded them of the six-person visitor rule. Harry, Hermione and Hagrid stepped outside with Sirius and Nigel then, leaving Ron with his family.

Sirius pulled Harry into a hug.

"It's terrible…" growled Hagrid into his beard as the group walked back along the corridor to the marble staircase. "All this new security an' kids are still gettin' hurt…" He glanced at Nigel and Sirius. "No offense to yer or anythin'."

Nigel shrugged and Sirius didn't say anything. He still had an arm around Harry's shoulder.

"Dumbledore doesn't have any idea who's responsible for this?" Hermione asked desperately.

Neither Auror responded.

"I 'spect he's got hundred's of ideas, brain like his." said Hagrid. "But he doesn't know who sent the poison or the necklace. Blimey," he stopped for a moment as a ghost wandered past, and then spoke quietly. "The board o' governors'll be talkin' about shuttin' us up for good."

"Surely not?" Hermione glanced at Sirius and Nigel.

Nigel cleared his throat. "I suppose we must look at this from their point of view. It's always been a risk sending a kid to Hogwarts. Accidents must be expected, with hundreds of underage children all in one place, but attempted murder… That's different."

"But Dumbledore won't let that happen, will he?" Hermione asked, worried.

"Dumbledore may not have a choice." said Sirius. "They nearly shut down the school four years ago in your second year, and that was before Voldemort returned. If they think the students would be safer with their families, then they'll send them all home."

"But there's nowhere safer than Hogwarts!" said Harry loudly. He was hushed by Hagrid, and spoke a little quieter. "Especially with Dumbledore here."

"Dumbledore can't be expected to protect every single person in this school, though." said Nigel. "He's got a lot to deal with already."

"But isn't that what you're here for?" asked Hermione. "To help protect the school?"

"Our presence here, and our investigation into the necklace incident, has not prevented a second attack, though, has it?" said Sirius gloomily. "The governors might think we're incompetent."

Harry tried to think of something to say that would make his godfather feel better.

"Sirius, there's something bothering you, isn't there?" Hermione asked.

Sirius didn't speak for a moment. Then he looked at Harry. "That could've been you."

Harry hadn't expected that.

"And if it had been you instead of Ron…" Sirius went on. "There's no telling whether you'd be alive right now. Ron may not have thought of a bezoar, and I doubt Slughorn would've been any more help than he was with Ron. You could have died, Harry."

"Sirius, there's nothing you could have done to prevent that." Harry said. "The only person to blame here is the one who gave Slughorn that poison."

Sirius still seemed upset, and didn't let go of Harry until they reached the portrait hole of Gryffindor tower.

"Just don't go looking for trouble, Prongslet." Sirius whispered as he finally released Harry.

"Padfoot, I don't have to go looking for trouble." said Harry. "It usually finds me."

"Yeah, that's what worries me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On fanfic, this chapter was actually two separate chapters, but the first was so short that I decided to combine them in this new platform. Thus, the story is now only fifty chapters instead of fifty-one (not including outtakes, and yes, there are some. There is also a prequel. They were both available on fanfic until a week ago when I took them down. They will eventually be uploaded on AO3 so no worries.


	22. Foul Play

Harry groaned and opened his eyes. He immediately recognized where he was, having spent time there at least once a year for the past six years.

The bloody hospital wing.

He raised his head awkwardly from his pillow. There on his left was Ron, still lying in his own hospital bed, grinning at him. To his right, sitting next to his bed, was Sirius, tired and looking relieved. Nigel stood behind him, one hand massaging Sirius shoulder.

The door opened and Remus hurried over. "Tonks just finished telling me what happened. How are you, Harry?"

"Fine…" said Harry. "But what happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Asked Sirius, his voice straining to be calm.

"The Quidditch game." Harry said. "I was flying towards McLaggen to tell him off about taking the Beater's bat… and that's all…"

"McLaggen cracked your skull open." said Nigel. "He hit a Bludger at you. I think it was on accident, but I don't recommend giving him a place on your team again."

"He was subbing for Ron." Harry said. "But yeah, he's a terrible teammate and acted like he was the Captain. How long do I have to stay here?"

"I'm keeping you overnight." said Madam Pomfrey. "I mended your skull immediately, but you shouldn't overexert yourself for a few hours."

As she bustled away, Harry muttered to Sirius. "I don't want to stay here overnight. I want to find McLaggen and kill him."

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "I'm afraid that would fall under 'overexertion'."

"He's been punished." said Nigel. "Professor McGonagall's already given him detention the rest of the year."

"And he's the size of a troll." said Ron. "Anyway, the rest of the team might've dealt with him before you get out of here, they're not happy…"

Harry could tell Ron was pleased that McLaggen had messed up so badly.

"I could hear the match commentary from here," said Ron, his voice now shaking with laughter. "I hope Luna always commentates from now on… Loser's Lurgy…"

Harry was still too angry to see much humor in the situation.

"Honestly, though, Harry…" said Sirius. "Do you think, next year, you can stay out of the hospital wing?"

"Sirius about had a heart attack when you fell off your broom." Nigel said, amused. "Luckily, your two Beaters caught you, or you could have been seriously hurt."

"Yes, well, in my experience Beaters are the most faithful players." said Sirius, a former Beater himself.

"And my Firebolt? Is it alright?" asked Harry, suddenly remembered his third year, when his Nimbus 2000 was smashed to smithereens by the Whomping Willow.

"It's fine. Ginny and one of the Hufflepuff players stopped it flying away. They gave it to Hermione, who put it in the broom shed." said Sirius.

"Where is Hermione?" asked Harry.

"She was here earlier, along with your teammates, except McLaggen, but Poppy sent them away so you could rest." Nigel explained.

"You do need rest." Sirius said, standing slowly. "Go on to sleep, Prongslet. We'll be back in the morning."

Remus smiled at Harry and Ron before leaving. Nigel and Sirius left together, Nigel's arm around Sirius' shoulders.

"He's okay now, but Sirius really was in a panic when you came in. Nigel had to drag him out of the room." Ron told him once everyone had left.

Harry nodded to him and laid down. "You know, I saw Malfoy heading off somewhere with a couple of girls… They didn't look like they wanted to be with him… I would've followed him but…"

"You had Quidditch." Ron finished. "Harry, Sirius told you not to worry about Malfoy. They've got it covered."

"You say that, and yet here you are in a hospital bed because someone tried to poison you."

"There's no proof it was Malfoy-"

"If it isn't him, then someone's in the school who's not supposed to be here." Harry argued. "And that's more dangerous, because they've found a way in besides the seven secret passageways, which are all being watched now because Sirius knows all of them."

"But even if Malfoy did do it, why is he doing it?" Ron asked. "What's his aim?"

"I don't know." Harry said.

He fell silent, wondering how he could follow Malfoy without Sirius finding out through the map.

Soft snores came from Ron's bed, and Harry pretended to sleep when Madam Pomfrey came in to close the curtains and turn out the lights.

His Invisibility Cloak wouldn't help. His name would still appear on the map and Sirius, an expert on the Cloak thanks to years of nighttime excursions with Harry's father, would easily be able to find him underneath it.

Harry stopped himself for a moment. Was he really considering going back on his word? Did he really want to betray Sirius' trust?

He had to do something. The Aurors weren't making any headway with the necklace and poison incidents. Who knew how many more attacks there would be before someone actually died?

But Harry needed help. He needed someone who wouldn't be noticed, who didn't appear on the Marauder's Map. Someone Harry could trust to keep it a secret.

"Dobby." Harry said suddenly.

There was a loud crack, and Dobby appeared next to him. Ron bolted upright.

"Wha-?"

"Muffliato." Harry said, pointing his wand at Madam Pomfrey's office.

"Harry Potter called Dobby?" asked the House-Elf.

"Yeah, but I didn't expect you to appear." Harry said.

"Dobby will always appear for Harry Potter." said Dobby, endearingly.

"Thanks." Harry said. "Listen, Dobby, I have a favor to ask." He quickly explained how he wanted Dobby to tail Malfoy and find out what he was doing.

Dobby was more than happy to help Harry and with a crack, he was gone to start on his new mission.

* * *

Ron and Harry both left the hospital wing Monday morning, restored to full health by Madam Pomfrey. Perhaps the best part of it was that Ron and Hermione were friends again. Lavender was not at all happy about it. Harry knew Ron was trying to work up enough courage to break up with her.

As for Harry, news about a fight between Ginny and Dean reached his ears, and it lifted his spirits. Apparently, Dean had laughed about McLaggen knocking Harry off his broom, and Ginny had told him off for it. The two were, unfortunately, still together.

Luna caught up with the three of them as they made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast, and gave Harry a note from Dumbledore. His next lesson with Dumbledore would be that very night.

When Harry entered Dumbledore's office that evening, he was surprised to find that the Headmaster was not alone.

Professor Trelawney was there. "Aha! So this is the reason I am to be thrown unceremoniously from your office, Dumbledore!"

"My dear Sybil," said a slightly exasperated Dumbledore. "There is no question of throwing you unceremoniously from anywhere, but Harry does have an appointment and I do not think there is anymore to be said-"

"Fine." said Trelawney unusually sharp. "If you will not banish the usurping nag, so be it… perhaps I will find a school where my talents are better appreciated."

She pushed past Harry and disappeared down the spiral staircase.

"Please close the door and sit down, Harry." said Dumbledore.

Harry obeyed. "Professor Trelawney still isn't happy Firenze is teaching then?"

"No," said Dumbledore. "Divination is turning out to be much more trouble than I could have foreseen, never having studied the subject myself. I cannot ask Firenze to return to the forest, where he is now an outcast, nor can I ask Sybil to leave. Between ourselves, she has know idea of the danger she would be in outside the castle. She does not know - and I do not think it wise to tell her - that she made the prophecy about you and Voldemort, you see."

Dumbledore sighed. "But never mind my staffing problems. We have much more important matters to discuss. Firstly - have you managed the task I set you at the end of our previous lesson?"

"Ah." said Harry, brought up short. With everything that had happened, he had completely forgotten about trying to get the memory from Slughorn. "I'm sorry, sir. I haven't yet…"

"I see." said Dumbledore, disappointment in his voice. "I thought I had made it clear to you how very important that memory is. Indeed, I did my best to impress upon you that it is the most crucial memory of all and that we will be wasting out time without it."

Harry shifted in his seat. "Professor Dumbledore, I'm really sorry. I should have done more… I should have realized that you wouldn't have asked me to do it if it wasn't really important."

Thank you for saying that, Harry." said Dumbledore quietly. "May I hope, then, that you will give this matter higher priority from now on? There will be little point in our meeting after tonight unless we have that memory."

"I'll do it, sir. I'll get it from him." said Harry.

"Then we shall say no more on the subject, and continue our story where we left off."

There were two more memories to see, but before that Dumbledore told Harry how Tom Riddle had left Hogwarts, and instead of joining the Ministry or some other wonderful job, he wound up working at Borgin and Burkes. But before that, Voldemort had asked Armando Dippet, the then headmaster of Hogwarts, for a job teaching. Dippet had told him he was too young and to come back in a few years.

Dumbledore believed Voldemort had several reasons for wanting to stay at Hogwarts. First, it was the first and only place he could call home. Harry felt uncomfortable as he saw Hogwarts the same way, although he now had Crystal Cottage with Remus and Sirius.

Second, the castle was a stronghold of ancient magic, and Voldemort had undoubtedly penetrated many more of its secrets than most of the students who pass through the place, but he may have felt that there were still mysteries to unravel, stories of magic to tap.

Finally, as a teacher, he would have had great power and influence over young witches and wizards, and he might have seen it as a useful recruiting ground, and a place where he might begin to build himself an army.

Voldemort began his job at Borgin and Burkes, where he was sent to convince people to part with their treasures for sale by the partners.

"He was, by all accounts, unusually gifted at doing this."

"I'll bet he was." said Harry.

"Well, quite." said Dumbledore, with a faint smile. "And now it is time to hear from Hokey the house-elf, who worked for a very old, very rich witch by the name of Hepzibah Smith."

Inside Hokey's memory, Harry saw an immensely fat old lady and her house-elf preparing for somebody's arrival. The visitor was none other than Tom Riddle, who was even more handsome than ever, his hair having grown longer, and his cheeks hollowed. This only helped him appear more charming to Hepzibah.

Voldemort was there on orders from Mr. Burke, trying to convince Hepzibah to part with a set of goblin-made armor. Hepzibah waved the offer away and confided in Tom about two other artifacts she owned: a fine golden cup once owned by Helga Hufflepuff, and a locket that Harry recognized as the one Merope had sold to Borgin and Burke before she died.

Once Hepzibah had shown him these two treasures, Dumbledore and Harry left the memory, and Harry learned that Hepzibah Smith died two days later, having been poisoned. The blame was placed on Hokey the house-elf, who clearly remembered putting something in her tea that turned out not to be sugar. Hepzibah's family discovered later that the cup and locket were missing, but by that point, Tom Riddle had resigned and disappeared. Borgin and Burke had no clue where he'd gone.

The next memory was one of Dumbledore's, which took place in the very same office they were in. Dumbledore, the headmaster, greeted Tom Riddle, who was now outwardly known as Lord Voldemort and had already begun gathering followers known as Death Eaters. He came to the school requesting a job as a teacher, but Dumbledore denied him. Voldemort left the office, furious.

"Why did he come back?" asked Harry. "Did you ever find out?"

"I have ideas, but no more than that. I shall tell you, Harry, when you have retrieved that memory from Professor SLughorn." said Dumbledore. "When you have that last piece of the jigsaw, everything will, I hope, be clear… to both of us."

"Was he after the Defense Against the Dark Arts job again, Professor?"

"Oh, most definitely. The aftermath of our little meeting proved that. You see, we have never been able to keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for longer than a year since I refused the post to Lord Voldemort."


	23. Horcruxes

"You won't find anything in there to help you." said Hermione as Harry combed through his Potions book to see if the Prince had anything useful.

"Don't start, Hermione." said Harry. "If it hadn't been for the Prince, Ron wouldn't be sitting here now."

"He would if you'd just listened to Snape in our first year."

Harry ignored her, noticing an incantation that read "Sectumsempra" scrawled in a margin above the intriguing words: "For Enemies". Harry dog-eared the page, hoping for an opportunity to try it out later.

Ron was working on a vicious essay set by Snape that Hermione and Harry had already finished. He had started it late, having taken quite a bit of time lamenting the fact that he still had not managed to Apparate during lessons, and the Apparition tests, for students who turned of age before or on the twenty-first of April, were coming up.

This meant that Hermione and Ron would be able to take the test, but Harry would have to wait until his birthday in July. This did not cheer Ron up, as Harry had actually managed to Apparate for the first time in the last lesson.

Crack.

"Dobby has returned, Harry Potter!" said the little house-elf, straightening his tea cozy. "Dobby has news about Draco Malfoy, sir!"

"What is he talking about, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"Harry Potter asked Dobby to follow Draco Malfoy." said Dobby before Harry could say anything.

"Harry! You promised Sirius-"

"I know, Hermione, but they're obviously not making progress. I thought if I could just figure out where he's going-"

"Dobby has found that place, Harry Potter." said Dobby. "Draco Malfoy regularly visits the seventh floor corridor, accompanied by a variety of other students, who keep watch for him while he enters-"

"The Room of Requirement!" said Harry, smacking himself with his Potions book. "That's where he's been sneaking off to! And I bet that's why he'd been disappearing off the map - come to think of it, I've never seen the Room of Requirement on there!"

"Maybe the Marauders never knew the room was there." said Ron.

"I think it'll be part of the magic of the room," said Hermione. "If

you need it to be Unplottable, it will be."

"Excellent work, Dobby." Harry said. "Did you manage to get in to have a look at what Malfoy's doing?"

"No, Harry Potter, that is impossible." said Dobby.

"No, it's not." said Harry at once. "Malfoy got into our headquarters there last year."

"But Malfoy knew exactly how we were using the room." said Hermione. "Because that stupid Marietta had blabbed. He needed the room to become the headquarters of the D.A., so it did. But you don't know what to ask it to transform into."

"There must be a way." said Harry. "Thanks, Dobby. You'd better go and get some rest now."

"Thank you, Harry Potter, sir!" squeaked Dobby, and he vanished.

"And how are you going to find it?" Hermione asked. "Don't you think Sirius will notice if you're up in the seventh floor corridor all the time?"

Harry had momentarily forgotten about Sirius.

"Maybe you should tell Sirius about where Malfoy's been going." Ron said. "He might be able to find out what he's doing there."

"That's an excellent idea." said Hermione.

Harry wasn't sure what was worse; Ron and Hermione fighting, or Ron and Hermione teaming up on him.

Steaming, he pulled out his two-way mirror and said Sirius' name.

Sirius appeared a minute later, disheveled and slightly out of breath.

"Harry, it's a bit late," He said, his eyes darting to the side of the mirror. "Is something wrong?"

"No, actually, I've got some good news." Harry said. "We've figured out where Malfoy's been sneaking off to!"

"Oh, really?" Sirius eyes narrowed. "Even after I told you to leave him-"

"I haven't actually done anything, Sirius." said Harry. "I just asked Dobby to help me, and he followed Draco for awhile."

"The house-elf?"

"Isn't he the little one who wears all the hats?" Harry heard Nigel ask. The blonde wizard then appeared next to Sirius.

"Yes, that one." Sirius said, and then he sighed. "Alright, then, what did you find out?"

"He's going to the Room of Requirement!"

Sirius' eyebrows raised. "What could he possibly be doing there?"

"What's the Room of Requirement?" asked Nigel.

"It's a room that becomes whatever you need it to." Sirius said quickly.

"I don't know what he's doing up there yet, but he's having different students keep a lookout."

"How many different students?" asked Sirius.

"I don't think so, Harry." said Hermione. "Remember our first class with Slughorn? The Polyjuice Potion? Malfoy could've nicked some, which means-"

"It's only Crabbe and Goyle!" said Ron. "But I doubt they know what he's up to either. They're too stupid and loyal to ask."

"We'll check it out, Harry. And just so you know, that means I'll be keeping an extra eye on the seventh floor corridor. I'd better not see any of your names around there, understand?"

"I understand." said Harry, and the other two made it clear they'd had no plans of going there in the first place.

"Thank you. Good night, then." said Sirius.

"Night."

* * *

The next day, after a particularly annoying Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Harry and Ron were discussing the Apparition test. Harry was trying, in vain, to help Ron feel better after Snape's rude comment about Ron's inability to Apparate thus far.

Lavender joined them (Hermione had mysteriously disappeared at the sight of her), and abused Snape for his jibe, but this seemed to irritate Ron further, and he feigned needing the bathroom, and Harry followed him.

There they met Myrtle, who seemed annoyed that they weren't the person she was hoping to see. Harry found it interesting that she'd been talking to a student, but upon further questioning, Myrtle refused to speak.

"Never you mind!' said Myrtle. "I promised I wouldn't tell anyone, and I'll take his secret to the-"

"Not the grave, surely?" said Ron with a snort. "The sewers, maybe…"

Myrtle left, enraged. But Ron seemed a little heartened.

"You know," said Ron. "I think I will do the practice sessions in Hogsmeade, like you said."

And the following week, Ron and Hermione went to Hogsmeade to take their test along with all the sixth years who were of age. Harry stayed behind and went to Potions, where there were only two other students: Ernie Macmillan and Draco Malfoy.

With only three of them, Slughorn set them the task of making a potion that would amuse him. Harry used the Prince's book to perfectly brew an Elixir to Induce Euphoria, which he hoped Slughorn might be willing to taste so that Harry could get the memory from him. But Slughorn, though impressed as always with his potion, left quickly at the end of class.

Disappointed, Harry returned to the Gryffindor common room, where Hermione and Ron soon returned. Hermione had passed. Ron had failed.

"You can take it with me this summer." Harry told him.

"Yeah, I s'pose." said Ron gloomily. "Oh yeah, a girl gave this note to us. It's from Hagrid. You won't believe what he's asked us to do."

Harry read the tear-soaked note. "Aragog's dead? Good riddance."

"He's the Acromantula, right?" asked Hermione, who'd never actually met him.

"Yeah, and I don't know why Hagrid thinks we'd want to pay our respects to him." said Ron. "That beast was going to let his family eat us!"

"And besides, we're not allowed out that late." said Hermione. "Harry, how did it go with Slughorn?"

Harry quickly told them about his attempt to get Slughorn to take the Euphoria potion.

"I suppose I'll have to think of something else. Fifty-seventh time lucky, you think?" said Harry bitterly.

"Luck!" said Ron suddenly. "Harry, that's it - get lucky! Use the Felix Felicis!"

"Of course, that's brilliant, Ron!" Hermione said, stunned.

Harry went upstairs and took a gulp of the Felix Felicis, deciding he'd only need two or three hours worth.

"How do you feel?" asked Hermione upon his return.

"Excellent. Really excellent." Said Harry. "Right, I'm going down to Hagrid's."

"What?" said his friends in unison.

"No, Harry - you've got to go and see Slughorn, remember?" said Hermione.

"No," said Harry confidently. "I'm going to Hagrid's. I feel like it's the place to be tonight, you know what I mean?"

"No." They said together again.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Or at least, Felix does." With that, Harry pulled on his Invisibility cloak and snuck out of the common room.

At the portrait hole, he noticed Ginny and Dean exchanging angry words, which only increased his feeling of elation.

He wasn't at all concerned about Sirius watching the map tonight. Something told him that Nigel would be distracting his godfather.

The front doors of the castle happened to be unlocked, and Harry suddenly fancied a stroll by the vegetable patch. Here, he happened upon Slughorn, whom he revealed himself to. Slughorn was startled by is sudden appearance but after a short conversation, he accompanied Harry to Hagrid's for Aragog's burial.

It was here that Slughorn sneakily collected some samples of Acromantula venom, and then said a few words in on the giant spider's behalf. The three of them then went Hagrid's hut, where Slughorn poured them all wine.

Harry used a silent refilling spell to keep the bottles from running dry, so that Hagrid and Slughorn were sufficiently drunk.

After a while, Hagrid and Slughorn were arm in arm, singing a song about a dying wizard named Odo.

"Aaargh, the good die young." muttered Hagrid, while Slughorn continued the song. "Me dad was no age to go, nor were your mum an' dad, Harry."

Slughorn finished at that moment.

"Horrible…" Hagrid grunted, and then he promptly slumped over and fell asleep.

"Sorry." said Slughorn. "Can't carry a tune to save my life."

"He wasn't talking about your singing." said Harry. "He was talking about my mum and dad dying."

"Oh." said Slughorn. "Oh, dear. Yes, that was - was terrible indeed…"

"I was only one when they died." said Harry. "But I've found out what happened since then. My dad died first. And Voldemort stepped over his dead body to go after me and my mum. He gave her a chance to run, but she refused. She needn't have died, he said. He only wanted me."

"Oh dear… that's awful."

"Yeah, but she didn't move. Dad was dead, and she didn't want to lose me, too. She died to save me."

"She was a charming woman…" said Slughorn "Very brave… very funny…"

"But you won't help her son." said Harry. "She gave me her life, but you won't give me a memory."

Slughorn's eyes filled with tears.

"Dumbledore and I need the information in that memory, Professor. Don't you want to help get rid of the person who killed my mother?"

"Well, yes… I…"

"Be brave like my mother, Professor." urged Harry.

Slughorn slowly raised his wand to his head, and withdrew a memory from it. He lowered it into a bottle and corked it, handing it to Harry.

"Thank you, Professor."

"Just don't think too badly of me once you've seen it…" said Professor Slughorn. Then he too put his head in his arms, gave a deep sigh, and fell asleep.

Harry rushed straight to Dumbledore's office. To his relief, the Headmaster was there.

"Good gracious, Harry." said Dumbledore in surprise. "To what do I owe this very late pleasure?"

Harry held up the bottled memory.

"Harry this is spectacular news! Very well done indeed! I knew you could do it!"

_"Sir, I wanted to asked you something."_

_"Ask away, then, m'boy, ask away…"_

_"Sir, I wondered what you know about… about Horcruxes?"_

_Slughorn stared at him. "Project for Defense Against the Dark Arts, is it?"_

_"Not exactly, sir." said Riddle. "I came across the term while reading and I didn't fully understand it."_

_"No, well, you'd be hard-pushed to find a book at Hogwarts that'll give you details on Horcruxes, Tom, that's very Dark stuff, very Dark indeed."_

_"But you obviously know about it, sir? I mean, a wizard of your talent and knowledge…"_

_"Well, it can't hurt to give you an overview… Just so you understand the term. A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul."_

_"I don't understand how that works, though, sir."_

_"Well, you split your soul, you see, and hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then, even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But of course, existence in such a form… few would want it, Tom, very few. Death would be preferable."_

_"How do you split your soul?"_

_"Well… you must understand that the soul is supposed to remain intact and whole. Splitting it is an act of violation, it is against nature. An act of evil - murder - rips the soul apart. The wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage: He would encase the torn portion -"_

_"Encase? How?"_

_"There is a spell, do not ask me, I don't know!"_

_"Sorry, sir, I didn't mean to offend you…"_

_"Not at all, not offended… It's natural to feel curiousity about these things…"_

_"Yes, sir, but what I don't understand is, is it possible to split your soul more than once? For instance, isn't seven the most powerful magical number?"_

_"Merlin's beard, Tom! Seven! Isn't it bad enough to think of killing one person? And in any case… bad enough to divide the soul… but to rip it into seven pieces…"_

_Slughorn was now staring at Riddle as though he'd only just seen him properly._

_"Of course, this is all hypothetical, what we're discussing, isn't it? All academic…"_

_"Yes, sir, of course." said Riddle quickly._

_"But all the same, Tom… keep it quiet, what I've told - that is to say, what we've discussed. People wouldn't like to think we've been chatting about Horcruxes. It's a banned subject at Hogwarts, you know… Dumbledore's particularly fierce about it…"_

_"I won't say a word, sir." said Riddle._

"I have been hoping for this piece of evidence for a very long time." said Dumbledore. "It seems I was right… Voldemort was trying to make himself immortal."

"So he made a Horcrux? He actually did it?" asked Harry.

"Quite correct. However, I do not think that he stopped at one. In his discussion with Horace, he asked about splitting the soul more than once. He wanted to know what would happen to the wizard so determined to evade death that he would be prepared to murder many times, rip his soul repeatedly, so as to store it in many, separately concealed Horcruxes. No book would have given him that information. As far as I know - as far, I am sure, as Voldemort knew - no wizard had ever done more than tear his soul in two."

Dumbledore paused, thoughtful. "Four years ago, I received what I considered certain proof that Voldemort had split his soul."

"Where?" asked Harry. "How?"

"You handed it to me, Harry." said Dumbledore. "The diary, Riddle's diary, the one giving instructions on how to reopen the Chamber of Secrets. What you described to me was a phenomenon I had never witnessed. A mere memory starting to act and think for itself? A mere memory, sapping the life out of the girl into whose hands it had fallen? No, something much more sinister had lived inside that book… a fragment of soul, I was almost sure of it. The diary had been a Horcrux. But this raised as many questions as it answered.

"What intrigued and alarmed me most was that that diary had been intended as a weapon as much as a safeguard. It worked as a Horcrux is supposed to work - it kept part of the soul concealed inside - but there was no doubt that Riddle really wanted the diary read, wanted the piece of his soul to inhabit or possess somebody else, so that Slytherin's monster would be unleashed again."

"Well, he didn't want his hard work to be wasted." said Harry. "He wanted people to know he was Slytherin's heir, because he couldn't take credit at the time."

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "But if he intended the diary to be passed to some future Hogwarts student, he was being remarkably blasé about that precious fragment of his soul concealed within it. The point of a Horcrux is to keep a part of the soul safe, not fling it into somebody's path and run the risk that they destroy it.

"The careless way in which Voldemort regarded this Horcrux seemed most ominous to me. It suggested that he must have made - or been planning to make - more Horcruxes, so that the loss of his first would not be so detrimental. I did not wish to believe it, but nothing else seemed to make sense.

"Then you told me, two years ago, that on the night that Voldemort returned to his body, he made a most illuminating and alarming statement his Death Eaters. 'I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality.' And I thought I knew what that meant, though the Death Eaters did not. He was referring to his Horcruxes, Horcruxes in the plural, Harry, which I do not believe any other wizard has ever had. Yet it fitted: Lord Voldemort had seemed to grow less human with the passing years, and the transformation he has undergone seemed to me to be only explicable if his soul was mutilated beyond the realms of what we might call 'usual evil'..."

"So he's made several Horcruxes?" asked Harry. "How do we know if we've destroyed them all?"

"Alas, I believe Voldemort has given us the answer to that question himself. You heard him, Harry: 'Wouldn't it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces… isn't seven the most powerful magical number…' Seven. Yes, I think the idea of a seven-part soul would greatly appeal to Lord Voldemort."

"He made seven Horcruxes? But they could be anywhere in the world - hidden - buried or invisible -"

"I am glad to see you appreciate the magnitude of the problem. But, no, not seven Horcruxes: six. The seventh part of his soul, however maimed, resides inside his regenerated body. That was the part of him that lived a spectral existence for so many year during his exile; without that, he ha no self at all. That seventh piece of soul will be the last that anybody wishing to kill Voldemort must attack - the piece that lives inside his body."

"But the six Horcruxes, then, how are we supposed to find them?"

"You are forgetting… you have already destroyed one of them. And I have destroyed another."

Harry thought more a moment. "Marvolo's ring?"

"Indeed, the ring, Harry. And a terrible cure there was upon it, too. Had it not been for my own prodigious skill, and for Professor Snape's timely action when I returned to Hogwarts, I might not have lived to tell the tale. However, a withered hand does not seem an unreasonable exchange for a seventh of Voldemort's soul. The ring is no longer a Horcrux."

"Where was it?" asked Harry.

"In the ruin's of the Gaunts' house. It seems Voldemort hid it, protected by many powerful enchantments, in the shack where his ancestors had once lived, never guessing that I might one day take the trouble to visit the ruin, or that I might be keeping an eye open for traces of magical concealment. However, we should not congratulate ourselves too heartily. You destroyed the diary, and I the ring, but if we are right in our theory of a seven-part soul, four Horcruxes remain."

"And they could be anything?" said Harry.

"Not just anything, no. Would Lord Voldemort use tin cans or old potion bottles to guard his own precious soul?"

Harry thought about the Riddle in the memories. "He liked to collect trophies… like Hufflepuff's cup and the locket…"

"Exactly, and he preferred objects with a powerful magical history. His pride, his belief in his own superiority, his determination to carve himself a startling place in magical history; these things suggest to me that Voldemort would have chosen his Horcruxes with some care, favoring objects worthy of the honor."

"The diary wasn't that special."

"The diary, as you said, was proof that he was the heir of Slytherin. I am sure that Voldemort considered it of stupendous importance."

"So, the diary, the ring," Harry counted. "The cup and the locket. Then there are two more."

"Indeed. And I believe it is reasonable to guess that the remaining two would have been relics of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. He already had one of Hufflepuff and one of SLytherin. Surely, four objects from the four founders of Hogwarts, were quite enticing to Voldemort. I cannot answer for whether he ever found something of Ravenclaw's, but I am confident that the only known relic of Gryffindor remains safe." Dumbledore motioned to Gryffindor's sword, safe within a glass case behind him.

"Do you think that's why he wanted to come back, sir? To try and find something from one of the founders?"

Dumbledore nodded. "But unfortunately, that does not advance us much further, for he was turned away, without a chance to the search the school."

"Even if he got something of Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's, that leaves a sixth Horcrux."

"Yes, and I think I know what the sixth Horcrux is. I wonder what you think of this: the snake, Nagini."

"The snake? You can use animals as Horcruxes?"

"It is inadvisable, because to confide a part of your soul to something that can think and move for itself is obviously a risky business. However, I believe Voldemort was still one Horcrux short when he entered your parents' house with the intention of killing you. I am sure he reserved the process of making Horcruxes for significant deaths, and yours would certainly be among them. By killing you, he was making himself invincible. I am sure that he was intending to make his final Horcrux with your death. As we know, he failed. After an interval of some years, however, he used Nagini to kill an old Muggle man, and it might then have occurred to him to turn her into his last Horcrux. She underlines the Slytherin connection, which enhances Lord Voldemort's mystique; I think he is perhap as fond of her as he can be of anything; he certainly likes to keep her close, and he seems to have an unusual amount of control over her, even as a Parselmouth."

"So," said Harry, "the diary's gone, the ring's gone. The cup, the locket, and the snake are still intact, and you think there might be a Horcrux that was once Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's?"

"Precisely."

"So… are you still looking for them, sir? Is that where you've been going when you've been leaving the school?"

"Correct," said Dumbledore. "I have been looking for a very long time. I think… perhaps… I may be close to finding another one."

"And if you do… can I come with you and help get rid of it?"

"Yes, I think you have earned that right."

Harry felt his heart lift.

"Do you think Voldemort knows when a Horcrux is destroyed, sir? Can he feel it?" asked Harry.

"A very interesting question, Harry. I believe not. He has become so immersed in evil, and detached from these parts of him so long, he does not feel as we do."

"So, if all his Horcruxes were destroyed, Voldemort could be killed?"

"Yes, I think so. Without his Horcruxes, Voldemort will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul. However, it will still take uncommon skill and power to kill a wizard like Voldemort even without his Horcruxes."

"But I haven't got uncommon skill and power." said Harry.

"Yes, you have." said Dumbledore firmly. "You have a power that Voldemort has never had. You can-"

"I know! I can love!"

"Yes, Harry, you can love. Which, given everything that has happened to you, is a great and remarkable thing. You are still too young to know how unusual you are, Harry."

"So when the prophecy says I'll have 'powers the Dark Lord knows not,' it just means love?"

"Yes, just love. But Harry, never forget that what the prophecy says is only significant because Voldemort made it so. If Voldemort had never heard the prophecy, would it have been fulfilled? Would it have meant anything? Of course not! Do you think every prophecy in the Hall of Prophecy has been fulfilled?"

"But last year, you said one of us would have to kill the other-"

"But only because Voldemort made it grave error, and acted upon Professor Trelawney's words! Voldemort created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! He heard the prophecy and he leapt into action, with the result that he not only handpicked the man most likely to finish him, but he handed him uniquely deadly weapons! Imagine if you'd never heard that prophecy! How would you feel about Lord Voldemort?"

Harry didn't have to think very long. "I'd want him finished. And I'd want to do it."

"Of course you would!" cried Dumbledore. "You see, the prophecy does not mean you have to do anything! But the prophecy caused Lord Voldemort to mark you as his equal. In other words, you are free to choose your own way, to turn your back on the prophecy. But Voldemort continues to set store by the prophecy. He will continue to hunt you… which makes it certain, really, that -"

"That one of us is going to end up killing the other." said Harry.

And Harry finally understood what Dumbledore meant. There was a difference between being forced into the battle and choosing to take part in it. Some would say there was no choice there, but Harry and Dumbledore, and Harry's parents, knew that there was all the difference in the world.


	24. Final Warning

Harry told Ron and Hermione everything that had happened the next morning in Charms class. Both were impressed at how he'd retrieved the memory and in awe about the Horcruxes, as well as Dumbledore's promise to take Harry with him should he find another.

Harry then learned from Ron and Hermione that Lavender had broken up with Ron.

"It was a bad night for romance all around," said Hermione. "Ginny and Dean broke up, too."

Harry was pleased by this, but he had to pretend to be concerned that two of his Chasers might not be working well together suddenly.

As they entered the common room after class, they noticed a group of seventh years clustered together.

It was Katie Bell, completely healthy and surrounded by her friends.

Harry quickly invited her back to the team, thankful he wouldn't have to worry about Dean and Ginny. He then asked her if she knew who'd given her the necklace.

"No, I haven't got a clue." said Katie. "The last thing I remember was walking into the ladies in the Three Broomsticks. I suppose whoever Imperiused me was standing just behind it. After that, my memory's a blank until just about two weeks ago in St. Mungo's."

She left then and Harry, Hermione and Ron began discussing who the necklace must have been for, and who could have given it to Katie.

Quidditch practice two days later was one of the best Harry had known as Captain. With McLaggen gone, and Katie finally returned, the team was in high spirits, including Ginny, who did not seem at all upset about her break-up with Dean.

Harry felt guilty for his feelings toward Ginny. It was a constant internal battle: Ginny or Ron? It was hard to forget Ron's expression when he'd seen Dean kissing Ginny.

April soon ended and May flew in, and Harry still had not figured out how to broach the subject of Ginny to Ron. He was tempted to take another gulp of Felix Felicis, just to tweak the circumstances a bit.

Meanwhile, he'd heard nothing back from Sirius about Malfoy and the Room of Requirement. Each time he started to ask about it, Sirius would avoid answering the question, find an excuse to leave, or outright change the subject, much like Slughorn had each time Harry tried to get the memory.

It was only a couple days before the match against Ravenclaw that Harry found himself walking down to dinner alone. He stopped at the bathroom beforehand, deciding to check his appearance in the mirror. This would be the first time in a while that he would be able to talk to Ginny without Ron, who'd had to rush off to the bathroom on the seventh floor to vomit again at the thought of the Quidditch game, and he wanted to make the best of it.

He certainly did not expect to find Draco Malfoy inside, not completely alone, as Moaning Myrtle floated next to him. Draco was standing at the sink clutching either side of it, his head bowed and his body shaking as though he were crying. Myrtle was trying to soothe him, but it didn't seem to be working.

"I can't do it…" Malfoy was saying. "I can't… it won't work… and unless I do it soon… he says he'll kill me…"

Harry was shocked to see Malfoy actually crying, and he didn't move or speak. But then he heard Malfoy gasp as he looked up into the mirror and saw Harry over his shoulder.

Malfoy spun around to face him, drawing his wand. Harry pulled out his, and the two began exchanging hexes. Harry had to admit, Malfoy had good aim. He had to use a Shield Charm several times to deflect his spells.

The battle went on for a few minutes, Harry and Malfoy both having taken cover behind sinks, and a few more mirrors being cracked in the process of their duel.

Harry suddenly remembered a spell from the Half-Blood Prince's book.

"Sectum-"

"Cruc-"

"Expelliarmus!" cried two new voices.

Draco and Harry's wands flew out of their hands, to be caught by none other than Tonks and Sirius. They stood up quickly, both equally scared at the sight of Harry's livid godfather and Malfoy's disowned cousin.

It was Tonks who spoke first. "Malfoy, come with me." He followed her, glancing at Harry and Sirius. They left the bathroom together, with Tonks still carrying Draco's wand.

That left Harry alone Sirius, who wasn't looking at him, and that hurt, though Harry couldn't understand why. Harry didn't move or speak, too afraid of what Sirius might say. He didn't think an apology would make everything fine and dandy. He waited, but Sirius still said nothing.

The door burst opened and Nigel rushed in. "Tonks said- Harry and Draco-" He stopped. "Sirius?"

There was no answer.

Nigel glanced between the two, and said. "Come on, both of you. Let's go to the Auror quarters." He took Sirius by the arm and led him out and Harry followed them. They made their way up to the third floor, where the Auror's who guarded the school were staying. Tonks was already there.

"I left Draco with Snape." said Tonks, the moment they entered. "He's Head of Slytherin House, so I didn't have much choice. Oh, and Remus is here."

She stepped aside so that they could see him, standing in a comfy sitting area by the fire.

"Sirius, are you alright?" Remus asked. Sirius shook his head, and, without a glance at Harry, he left through one of the doors down the hallway on the right of the fireplace.

"I'll go talk to him." Nigel said, following him.

"Harry." said Remus. "Come sit down."

Harry obeyed, taking a seat on the couch next to the fire. Remus sat across from him. Tonks did not join them, instead going down a hallway to the left of the fire.

"Can you tell me what happened, Harry?" Remus asked quietly.

Harry stared at the fire as he recounted the story.

"I went to the bathroom and found Malfoy… and I heard him talking to Moaning Myrtle about something he had to do… and that if he didn't do it, someone would kill him…"

"And Malfoy saw you?"

"Yes… We both pulled out our wands started trying to hex each other…"

"And then?"

"Sirius and Tonks ran in and disarmed us both…" Harry felt his eyes fill with tears. "Sirius wouldn't even look at me…"

Remus moved to Harry's side and pulled him towards him. Harry sobbed into his coat.

"Harry, Sirius is upset, that's true, but you have to understand why." Remus said into Harry's hair. "First, you made a promise to him, and you broke that promise. He feels betrayed. Second, you are his godson and there is nobody on this earth that he loves more. You could have been seriously hurt just now, and while this isn't the first time, you're usually thrust into danger without a choice.

"But for you to suddenly throw yourself into it, he can't comprehend how you can put your life at risk without a second thought. There was no reason for you to - nothing to gain from duelling Malfoy. Even if he struck first, you could have walked away. You had that choice. Malfoy was, I am sure, feeling cornered suddenly and attacked you out of fear. He started it, but you could have ended it."

Harry knew Remus was right. He could have walked out the moment Draco raised his wand. But he'd reacted instinctively.

Remus went on.

"And, perhaps this is what makes him feel the worst - the reason he wouldn't look at you. He understood why you fought back. You and Draco, your relationship is just like Sirius and Severus' relationship. And he feels he may have taught you that. He and Severus despise each other to this day. He thinks his interactions with Severus have shown you that such a thing was acceptable."

"But Malfoy and I were enemies before I ever met Sirius!" Harry looked up suddenly, and Remus smiled kindly at him.

"You're very right, Harry," Remus said. "But if Sirius and Severus had acted differently with each other, had been civil and polite, or even gone so far as to apologize to each other, that would have set a better example for you and Malfoy. Perhaps, if you'd seen your godfather could forgive his greatest rival, you might have done the same with Draco. But he failed to be the role model he feels he should have been. And because of that, he is too ashamed with himself to look at you."

Harry looked back at the fire. "It's not his fault though. I should've…"

"Harry." said a voice.

Harry looked up to see Sirius standing there, next to the chair Remus had just vacated.

"Sirius, I'm so sorry…" Harry said, standing.

Sirius opened his arms and Harry entered his warm embrace. For a few moments, neither of them spoke, both simply glad the other was there.

"Harry, I love you." said Sirius, holding him tightly still. "What you did, going back on your word, that hurt me. And to think I could have lost you…"

"I'm sorry…" Harry said again. "I didn't think before I pulled out my wand… I just…"

Sirius sighed. "I'm glad you're okay… but for Merlin's sakes…" He pulled away slightly to look at him. "That's the second time this year you've nearly given me a heart attack. Quidditch is one thing, but Malfoy?"

"You're right…" Harry said, his voice trailing off.

"That spell you were shouting when I walked in…" said Sirius, sitting down with Harry on the couch Remus was on. "What was it?"

Harry thought for a moment.

"Sectumsempra."

Sirius and Remus gasped and exchanged alarmed glances.

"Where did you find that spell, Harry?" asked Remus.

"In a book."

"A Potions book?" asked Sirius.

"How did you-?"

"I've seen that book before." said Sirius. "Harry, I don't know how you got that copy of Advanced Potion-Making, but you should not have it. That spell you found, it was dark magic."

"And we've seen it used before. That curse could have killed Draco." said Remus. "The Death Eaters were fond of it in the last war."

"I didn't know…" Harry stopped. "You mean you knew the person who owned the book?"

"Yes." Sirius said. "But you don't need to. Who it belonged to doesn't matter. What matters is that you get rid of it."

"You can hide it in the Room of Requirement." said Tonks, who'd returned without any of them noticing. "It can transform into a room full of lost things. Leave it there, and I doubt anybody'll find it."

"How do you know that?" asked Harry.

"My friend and I hid her diary there back when we were students here. She didn't want anyone to read it. It had some… embarrassing things in it."

"Well, then, that's what you can do." Sirius said to Harry. "Tonks, will you show Harry how to get into the room?"

"Of course."

Harry stood to follow Tonks from the room.

"Harry?" Sirius said, and Harry turned back to him. "If you do something like that again, there won't be anymore Quidditch for you, even next year."

Harry nodded and went out the door.

After walking in silence for ten minutes, Tonks and Harry, after stopping by the empty common room so Harry could grab his potions book, finally reached the tapestry of the dancing trolls.

"Alright, so, you know how this works." said Tonks. "Just think about needing a place to hide you book."

Harry did, and walked past the blank wall three times. When he stopped, the door was there. Tonks and Harry entered.

The room seemed endless. In every direction there were piles and mountains of random objects. Teetering stacks of chairs and books. It seemed every object that had ever been lost had somehow found its way into the cavernous hall.

They walked in awe through gaps between the piles. Finally, weary of going any further and getting lost, they stopped next to an ornate cabinet. Tonks seemed to find it interesting, and while she studied the cabinet, Harry went over to a collection of wigs and hid the book underneath one. He picked up a nearby tiara-like object and placed it on one, making sure Tonks didn't see, so that he would be able to find it again if he ever needed it.

"Ready?" asked Harry.

"You hid it? Good, then let's go." said Tonks, and with one last glance at the cabinet, she led the way through the mountains of objects and out of the room.

"Dinner's almost over…" said Tonks as they headed to the portrait hole. "Go back to the common room and I'll ask one of the house-elves to bring you something."


	25. Gryffindor's Redemption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the halfway mark! I might seem like I'm rushing through but all of this has been written already. I'm trying to get it posted so I can move on to other things. I've considered writing a sequel, centered around the next generation, but I'm also working on a sequel for a different story set in the Potterverse as well and I don't want to confuse myself by writing more than one at a time.

Ron and Hermione were relieved to find Harry in the common room after dinner.

"We thought… you know… that something had happened to you!" said Ron. "Why weren't you at dinner?"

Harry didn't say anything, poking the chicken on the plate a house-elf had brought him with his fork. Hermione and Ron sat down next to him by the fire.

"Something did happen to you, didn't it, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah…" said Harry. "I… got into a fight with Malfoy…"

Hermione gasped. "Harry! But Sirius said-"

"I didn't do it on purpose! And Sirius has already talked to me…"

He explained everything that had happened since he'd walked into the bathroom to find Malfoy, leaving out his reason for entering the bathroom in the first place.

Neither Hermione nor Ron were angry with him. Hermione was relieved that Harry hadn't been able to finish the spell, and that Draco, who'd nearly used the Cruciatus Curse, hadn't finished his either.

"Did Malfoy get detention for it? Or expelled?" Ron asked hopefully.

"I doubt it." said Harry. "Tonks said she took him to Snape, so he probably just got a talking-to."

"You mean like you did?" asked Hermione. When Harry didn't answer, Hermione continued. "Either way, I'm glad you got rid of that book. I wanted to tell you, I found out who that Prince character was. Her name was Eileen Prince, and she was a student here around fifty years ago."

"If she was a student fifty years ago, then how could Sirius and Remus know her?" asked Ron. "They said they knew the person who owned the book, right?"

"Yeah, but maybe they knew her after Hogwarts or something." said Harry. "I dunno, maybe the book has nothing to do with Eileen Prince."

"Well, that's what I found, and considering the copyright date in that book was from fifty years ago as well, it seems to fit perfectly." Hermione said.

They couldn't argue with that. After a few minutes silence, Ron said, "At least you didn't get banned from Quidditch."

"But he will if he gets involved with Malfoy again." Hermione said.

"Yeah, I know, Hermione." Harry said, annoyed. "I'm the one who told you that, remember?"

Hermione said nothing.

"Hey," said Ron, noticing a book sticking out of the bag at Harry's feet. "You got a new Potions book already?"

"It's Remus'." Harry explained. "He told me I could use it until the summer. Then I'll get my own, again."

"Wow, it looks almost brand-new." admired Hermione as Harry handed it to her. She opened the book to the inside cover. "Remus takes care of his thi- Oh, my."

"What is it?" asked Ron.

"This book is older than Remus." said Hermione. "It's a hand-me-down from his father."

"Yeah, so? Maybe Remus gets his carefulness from his dad." said Ron.

But Hermione was deep in thought as she slowly turned the page. "What if… what if Remus isn't the only one who inherited a textbook from his parents? What if the Half-Blood Prince inherited the Potions book from Eileen Prince?"

"Well," said Harry, putting the pieces together. "That would explain why the Marauders knew the Prince, but the book is old. The Prince got it from his mother."

"I think I'll look into it in the library tomorrow." said Hermione. "Maybe we can find out who really owned the book. It'll be easier, because I can narrow it down to around the time the Marauders were born."

* * *

The rest of the week flew by for Harry, though not for Ron, who became more and more nervous the closer the Quidditch match came, until finally the morning arrived.

It was a clear, sunny day as Harry and his team put on their Quidditch robes.

"Alright," said Harry once they were all assembled together. "This is the first game where we've all been able to play together. It's been tough, and I would be lying if I said nobody got hurt, but in the end we've pulled through. And now, we're going to go out there, and show everybody that it takes a lot more than curses, poison, and cracked skulls to stop Gryffindors. The best Quidditch players in the whole school are standing in this room, and I know we can do this."

He glanced at each member of his team. Even Ron seemed more confident at Harry's words.

"Ready?" He received a cheer in reply. "Then let's do this."

Harry led the way onto the Quidditch pitch, shook hands with the Ravenclaw Captain, and shot off into the air at the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle.

Within a minute, Ginny had scored a goal for Gryffindor. Harry heard the commentator shout "That's a goal for Gryffindor!" He took a peek and saw a Hufflepuff fifth year sitting with Professor McGonagall in the commentator's box. The Hufflepuff didn't have Lee Jordan's skill or Luna's intrigue, but he did his job enthusiastically and reported on the game.

Harry scanned the pitch for the Snitch, and noticed in the teacher's stand that Sirius and Remus were both there, smiling broadly. Harry smiled and looked away. He then saw the Ravenclaw Seeker shooting towards a glint of gold.

Harry bolted and cut her off, a tactic that Cho Chang had once used against him. He was determined to hold off on catching the Snitch for as long as his team needed. They had to be at least two hundred and twenty points up to win the Quidditch Cup.

The Ravenclaw Seeker scowled at him, but Harry smirked. The Snitch was now nowhere to be seen.

Ginny, Demelza and Katie were the perfect trio, avoiding bludgers and weaving through the other team's Chasers, working together to score goals. Ron blocked the other team from scoring most of the time, though Ravenclaw made it in a few times. And Coote and Peakes knocked the Bludgers away from their team without fail.

It was an hour and a half, the score 340 to 120 with Gryffindor in the lead, before Harry stopped his blocking tactic and started looking for the Snitch to capture it. For the next half-hour, however, the Snitch took a leave of absence. Neither Harry nor the Ravenclaw Seeker moved from their position above the game. In the meantime, Gryffindor scored six more times and Ravenclaw scored twice.

Finally, Harry saw it. A glint of gold near the ground, just below the stand Sirius and Remus were in.

He dove, and the Ravenclaw Seeker followed, but he was no match for Harry and his Firebolt. He pulled out of the dive early, but Harry waited until the last second. He plucked the Snitch out of the air and shot back into the sky, inches away from crashing.

As he rose above the stands again, he glanced down at Sirius. His godfather had a proud smile. The Gryffindors in the stands roared as Harry and his team, who were all piled together in a tangle of broomsticks, landed on the field. Ginny threw her arms around Harry's neck and suddenly, it didn't matter to him that Ron was right there, or that everybody in the school could see him.

He kissed her. They pulled apart, ignoring the whoops and cheers from the Gryffindors who were now surrounding the team, and they smiled at each other.

Harry looked at Ron, who gave him a smile and a shrug that gave his approval. Harry returned the smile gratefully, and then grinned at Ginny.

"Well done." Someone said into his ear.

Harry glanced back to see Sirius right behind him, and Remus and Tonks nearby.

"An excellent catch, I must say." Sirius said. "Took you long enough, though."

"I had to wait until we were two hundred and twenty points up." Harry said defensively.

Sirius smirked and leaned in so only Harry could hear. "And who said I was talking about the Snitch?"


	26. Beginning of the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are at the beginning of the second half. Hope you enjoy and please leave a comment.

Ginny and Harry were the talk of the school for the next week. Harry wasn't sure what was so interesting about it, but he'd been gossiped about so often, he was glad it was for something good and rather normal. He didn't dare go near the Room of Requirement again, knowing Sirius was keeping an eye on it.

One day as he and Ginny were taking a long walk around the edge of the forest, hoping to catch a glimpse of Buckbeak, they heard voices. Ginny and Harry ducked behind some brush and Harry threw the Invisibility Cloak over them.

The owners of the voices came into view only moments later. Sirius, Nigel, Willow, and Tonks stopped in the spot that Harry and Ginny had just vacated.

"And you're sure it was exactly like the one in Borgin and Burkes?" Sirius was asking.

"Positive." Tonks said.

"I had a contact visit Borgin and Burkes. The Vanishing Cabinet is still there, but it's no longer for sale." said Willow.

"So there's two of them?" Nigel concluded.

"Yes, and I have a bad feeling that they are connected to each other." said Willow.

"And the Malfoy kid is trying to repair the one in Room of Requirement." said Sirius.

"If he succeeds, then we'll have trouble." said Tonks. "We need to keep an eye out there. Let's station a pair of Aurors there at all times."

"But they've got to stay hidden." said Nigel. "We don't want Malfoy to know he's being watched."

"I'll get Mad-Eye's Invisibility Cloaks." said Tonks. "He's on desk work right now so he shouldn't need them."

Sirius laughed. "Sorry… But the thought of Mad-Eye Moody, sitting at a desk doing paperwork is infinitely entertaining."

"Maybe sipping tea from a tiny teacup?" Nigel offered.

"That man doesn't drink from teacups! He's got that bloody flask of his." said Willow.

"What does he even put in there?" asked Tonks.

"Constant Vigilance." said Sirius. "It's a drink he invented himself. It's main side effect is saying 'constant vigilance' in a forcible manner every so often."

The four of them laughed and turned towards the school.

"Right, I'll inform the other teams of the plan." Said Sirius. He raised his wand and six dog Patronuses burst from the end of it, making their way to different parts of the castle.

"I'll head to the Ministry to get the cloaks. They aren't as good as Harry's, but they'll have to do." said Tonks.

"I don't suppose we could borrow Harry's?" asked Nigel.

"Not a chance. He needs it." said Sirius. "Especially if Malfoy succeeds in fixing that cabinet."

The four of them then left to return to the school. Once they were out of sight and earshot, Harry and Ginny pulled off the cloak.

"Wow, so Malfoy's trying to fix a Vanishing Cabinet." said Ginny.

"Yeah, and it looks like the Aurors are on to him." said Harry.

"But if they know what he's doing, why are they letting him continue?" asked Ginny.

"No idea. Let's go tell Ron and Hermione." said Harry.

"Yeah, before Sirius checks the map and sees us in the exact place they were just talking."

They looked at each other, and sprinted back to the castle as though they were being chased by a very fast Acromantula. They stopped in the Entrance Hall to catch their breath, and then went straight up to Gryffindor Tower.

But on the way there, a girl handed Harry a small scroll.

"Dumbledore wants me to meet him right now." He told Ginny after reading the scroll.

"Go ahead." said Ginny. "I'll tell Ron and Hermione what happened."

Harry headed for Dumbledore's office on his own. On the seventh floor, he heard a loud crash and a scream. Against his better judgement, he ran towards the sound.

There was Professor Trelawney, several sherry bottles next to her, lying on her back in front of the the currently blank wall that was the Room of Requirement.

"Professor?" Harry helped her up. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, fine. But the nerve of that… person…"

"Person?" Harry glanced at the wall she was glaring at. "Professor, were you trying to get into the Room of Requirement?"

"Wha-? I didn't think students knew about it."

"Not all of them do. You said there was a person in there?"

"Yes, a boy, I believe. I didn't see him. And he was whooping."

"Whooping?" Harry's stomach dropped. Malfoy must have finally fixed the Vanishing Cabinet that he'd heard Sirius and the other Aurors talking about.

"Yes, and so i called out 'who's there?', and the next thing I knew, I was being whirled out of the room by some spell!"

"Harry?"

Harry whirled around. It was Sirius and Nigel, obviously there to start the first watch on the Room of Requirement.

"Sirius!" Harry talked fast. "Malfoy- he's in the Room of Requirement right now, and I think he's finally fixed the Vanishing Cabinet!"

"How do you know-? Never mind. He's fixed it? Are you sure?"

"Professor Trelawney heard him, well, a boy, whooping in there. He was obviously happy about something."

"There's only one person who'd be doing that in the Room of Requirement." said Nigel. "And only one reason for him to be so excited."

"Aye." agreed Sirius. "Harry, I don't know how you found out so much, but that's not important now. I do know that Dumbledore's waiting on you, so go on to his office. And take Professor Trelawney with you. I'll send word to him. Nigel, get Tonks over here."

Harry and Trelawney walked away as Nigel and Sirius raised their wands to send out Patronuses.

"And why should I go? The Headmaster has made it clear he would prefer fewer visits from me." said Trelawney haughtily.

"But he needs to hear what happened to you. It's important." Harry told her.

Trelawney scoffed, but relented. "Oh, very well." She then dropped her sherry bottles unceremoniously into a suit of armor.

As they made their way to Dumbledore's office, Trelawney reminisced on her near sixteen years at Hogwarts. "I must confess, I do not think Dumbledore was particularly impressed with my skills in the beginning of my interview at the Hog's Head. I remember I was starting to feel a bit odd… I hadn't eaten much that day, but then…"

Harry didn't have to ask what happened next. He knew about the prophecy and someone overhearing it.

"... but then we were rudely interrupted by Severus Snape!"

"What?"

"Yes, there was a commotion outside the door and it flew open and there was that rather uncouth barman standing with Snape…"

Harry heard no more as waves of shock crashed over him. It was Snape who had overheard the prophecy. Snape who had carried the news to Lord Voldemort. Snape and Peter Pettigrew who had sent Voldemort hunting after Lily and James and their son…

"You stay here." said Harry, and he took off down the corridor. She shouted after him but he called back. "You stay there!"

He did not stop until he was in Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore was waiting for him, a long black traveling cloak hanging over his arm. "Well, Harry, I promised you could come with me."

"Come… with you?"

"Of course. I believe I have located one Voldemort's Horcruxes. You do still want to go, don't you?"

"Y-yes, of course…"

"Is something wrong, Harry?"

"No."

"What has upset you?"

"I'm not upset.

"Harry, you were never very good at Occlumency."

"Snape!" cried Harry angrily. "Snape overheard the prophecy! He told Voldemort to go after my parents! Trelawney just told me he was the one listening in on her interview!"

"Harry, I can assure you that Professor Snape did not know, had no way of knowing, how Voldemort would interpret the prophecy, and he deeply regrets his mistake-"

"A mistake? You call setting Voldemort after my parents and me a mistake? He hated my dad! Why would he regret his death? How can you trust him after that?"

"Severus was still in the employ of Lord Voldemort at the time that he heard the prophecy." said Dumbledore firmly. "It was after that that he decided to join our side and turn spy for me. He never thought Voldemort would choose somebody he knew."

Harry was still glaring.

"Professor Snape has given me ample reason to trust him completely."

"And what reason is that?"

"That is between him and me."

Harry steamed. He wondered if Sirius knew Snape was the one who overheard the prophecy. He was about to ask when Dumbledore spoke.

"We will speak no more on this subject. Do you wish to come with me tonight?"

"Yes." Harry said, his voice a little scratchy from shouting.

"Good, then I have one condition: If you are to accompany me, then you must obey my every order, instantly and without question."

"Yes, sir." Harry said.

"I have your word that you will do this?"

Harry did not answer for a moment. He glanced at Dumbledore, who was waiting. Finally, he said, "Yes, sir."

"Good, then we shall meet in the Entrance Hall in ten minutes time. Go retrieve your Invisibility Cloak, and Sirius wishes for you to wear the ankh you received from Bill Weasley last summer."

Harry obeyed, and ran to Gryffindor Tower. There, he was met with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.

"I'll be right back." said Harry. He ran upstairs, grabbed the rolled up socks the Felix Felicis was hidden in and the ankh, which was buried at the bottom of his trunk. He slipped it on and hid it under his shirt. He already had his Invisibility Cloak. He threw on his travel cloak and dashed back downstairs.

"Harry, Ginny told us what you heard. Is everything alright?" Hermione asked.

"I haven't got much time. Dumbledore thinks he's found a Horcrux and he's taking me with him." said Harry. "But Malfoy…" He quickly told them what had happened with Trelawney and Sirius, as well as what he'd just learned about Snape. "The Aurors are on guard, and Dumbledore is leaving extra protection at the school, but Snape will know what that protection is and be able to get past it. You've got to gather as many D.A. members as possible and take watch. Here."

He thrust the rolled up socks into Ron's hand. "The Felix Felicis is in there. Divide it between the three of you."

"But don't you need it?" asked Hermione.

"I'll be fine, I'm with Dumbledore."

With that, he ran out of the portrait hole and down to the Entrance Hall, where Dumbledore was waiting for him. At his order, Harry threw the Cloak over himself, and they set out.


	27. Falling Star

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just gonna go ahead and apologize right now. 
> 
> Sorry. I really am.

"Draco, Draco, you are not a killer."

"How do you know?" said Malfoy, his wand pointed at Dumbledore still. "You don't know what I'm capable of! You don't know what I've done!"

They were in the Astronomy tower, and Dumbledore had ordered Harry to run, until Malfoy had burst in and disarmed Dumbledore. The Headmaster was now defenseless and severely weakened by the potion he'd been forced to drink to retrieve the Horcrux. Harry wished he could move, but he was under some sort of Freezing Charm, hidden underneath his Cloak. Malfoy did not know he was there. If only he could raise his wand, he could stop him.

"Oh yes, I do." said Dumbledore mildly. "You almost killed Katie bell and Ronald Weasley. You have been trying, with increasing desperation, to kill me all year. Forgive me, Draco, but they have been feeble attempts… So feeble, to be honest, that I wonder whether your heart has been really in it."

"It has been in it!" said Malfoy vehemently. "I've been working on it all year, and tonight-"

Somewhere in the depths of the castle below Harry heard a muffled yell. Malfoy stiffened and glanced over his shoulder.

"Somebody is putting up a good fight." said Dumbledore. "But you were saying… yes, you have managed to introduce Death Eaters into my school, using that Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, I presume?"

"How did you know that?"

Harry assumed Sirius had been keeping Dumbledore up to date on the investigation.

"The Order are not made up of fools, Draco." said Dumbledore. "Nor are the Aurors stationed here at Hogwarts. It was a clever plan, but one my guard was prepared for, unfortunately for your Death Eater friends. Perhaps you ought to get on with the job alone."

Malfoy merely stared at him.

"I see," said Dumbledore. "You are afraid to act until they join you."

"I'm not afraid! It's you who should be scared!"

"But why? I don't think you will kill me, Draco. Killing is not nearly as easy as the innocent believe. So tell me… while we wait… how did you know I had left this evening?"

"Madam Rosmerta… I've had her under the Imperius curse all year. She's been communicating to me with an enchanted coin."

"Ah, isn't that the secret method of communication the group who called themselves Dumbledore's Army used last year?" asked Dumbledore. Harry could tell he was growing weaker by the second.

They talked for a few more minutes, Malfoy continually repeating that he would kill Dumbledore, and Dumbledore attempting to convince Malfoy to join their side. But just as Malfoy seemed about to lower his wand, four Death Eaters joined him.

The Death Eaters urged Draco to kill Dumbledore, but he could not. Before Greyback grew too impatient and killed Dumbledore himself, Snape joined them. Harry felt anger at the sight of him, but hope as well. If he was to believe Dumbledore, then Snape could save the Headmaster.

"Severus…"

Harry couldn't believe his eyes as Snape pushed Draco out of the way and raised his wand.

"Severus… please…"

"Avada Kedavra!"

The curse hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. For a split second, he seemed to hang suspended beneath the shining Dark Mark above them, and then he fell slowly backward over the battlements and out of sight.

* * *

"Impedi-"

Snape deflected the hex. "No, Potter! You must close your mind! You think you'll defeat me when I can see your next move?"

Harry had chased Snape all the way out of the castles as he and the other Death Eaters escaped.

Harry scowled. "Sectum-"

Snape blocked him again. "You dare use my own spells against me, Potter? It was I who invented them - I, the Half-Blood Prince! And you'd turn my inventions on me, like your filthy father, would you? I don't think so!" He disarmed Harry.

"Kill me then!"" Harry shouted, with no fear, but only rage and contempt. "Kill me like you killed him, you coward-"

"DON'T CALL ME A COWARD!" Snape snapped his wand and Harry felt something white-hot hit him across the face.

Then he heard a screech and saw Buckbeak attack Snape. Seconds later, Snape was running as fast as he could, still chased by the beast.

Harry scrambled through the surrounding twigs in search of his wand, but by the time he located it, Snape was gone, having Apparated just beyond the school's boundaries.

Harry stood and looked around. He saw Hagrid emerging from his flaming hut carrying Fang. Together, they put the fire out using magic.

"But what happened, Harry?" asked Hagrid. "I jus' saw them Death Eaters runnin' down from the castle, but what the ruddy hell was Snape doin' with 'em? Where's he gone - was he chasin' them?"

"He killed…" said Harry, finding it hard to say it.

"What're yeh on about, Harry? Snape killed?"

"Dumbledore," said Harry. "Snape killed Dumbledore."

But Hagrid didn't believe it. Harry did not attempt to argue or explain as they went back to the castle. The oak front doors were wide open as dressing-gowned people slowly, uncertainly, creeped down the steps and moved towards the base of the Astronomy tower.

As they drew closer to it, he heard Hagrid's moan of pain at the sight of the Headmaster lying there, sprawled on the ground, pale as the moonlight, and motionless.

Harry kneeled down at Dumbledore's side, straightening his half-moon spectacles. He noticed the locket lying next to him, and picked it up. It had opened, and Harry knew something was wrong. This was not the longer he remembered seeing in the memory. Inside of it, there was a scrap of folded parchment.

He opened it without really thinking and read by the light of the many wands that had now been lit behind him:

_  
To the Dark Lord_

_I know I will be dead long before you read this_

_But I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret._

_I have stolen the real locket and intend to destroy it as soon as I can._

_I face death in the hope that when you meet your match,_

_You will be mortal once more._

_R.A.B.  
_

Harry crumpled the parchment in his hands and felt tears in his eyes. At that moment he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Harry, come on."

Harry looked up to see Sirius kneeling next to him. He rose to his feet with his godfather, and allowed him to lead him back to the castle. Sirius did not speak until they were safely inside, the sobs, cries, and wails of the group surrounding Dumbledore's body left behind.

In the brighter light of the Entrance Hall, he could see Sirius' face. He had a cut across his cheek, and his eyes expressed something beyond Harry's comprehension.

"Minerva's ordered us all to the Hospital Wing." said Sirius, taking Harry's hand. "Everyone who fought in the battle."

Sirius led him upstairs to the Hospital Wing. Harry saw several people lying in beds, and even though Sirius had assured him no one was dead, he felt his heart skip a beat.

Neville and Flitwick both appeared to be asleep. "They'll be alright, Madam Pomfrey said." Sirius told him, though his voice sounded hollow, and he did not release Harry's hand. "Bill was ravaged by Greyback, but he's alive."

He took Harry over to where Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Tonks, and Remus were gathered around a bed near the far end of the ward. Hermione and Ginny ran to Harry and hugged him, as did Remus.

"Are you alright, Harry?" asked Remus.

"I'm fine… How's Bill?"

Nobody answered. Sirius let go of Harry so that he could step forward and see the unrecognizable face lying on the pillow.

"I've tried everything I know, but there is no cure for werewolf bites." said Madam Pomfrey.

"But he wasn't bitten at the full moon." said Ron, "Greyback hadn't transformed, so surely Bill won't be a - a real-?" He looked at Remus.

"No, I don't think that Bill will be a true werewolf." said Lupin. "But that does not mean that there won't be some contamination. Those are cursed wounds. They are unlikely ever to heal fully, and - and Bill might have some wolfish characteristics from now on."

"Dumbledore might know something that'd work, though," said Ron. "Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders, Dumbledore owes him, he can't leave him in this state-"

"Dumbledore is dead." said Nigel, joining them.

"No!" Remus looked wildly from Nigel to Sirius to Harry, as though hoping the latter two might contradict him, but when neither did, Remus collapsed into a chair beside Bill's bed, his hands over his face. Sirius went to his side and threw an arm around his shoulder. Harry had never seen Remus lose control before, and he looked away at Ron, exchanging a look that confirmed what Nigel had said.

"How did he die?" whispered Tonks. "How did it happen?"

"Snape killed him." said Harry. "I was there, I saw it. We arrived back on the Astronomy Tower because that's where the Mark was… Dumbledore was ill, he was weak, but I think he realized it was a trap when we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He immobilized me, I couldn't do anything, I was under the Invisibility Cloak - and then Malfoy came through the door and disarmed him - more Death Eaters arrived - and then Snape - and Snape did it. The _Avada Kedavra._ " Harry couldn't go on.

Somewhere out in the darkness, a phoenix was singing in a way Harry had never heard before: A stricken lament of terrible beauty.

It seemed like a long time that they stood there in silence listening to Fawkes' lament before the hospital door opened again and Professor McGonagall entered the ward.

"Molly and Arthur are on their way." she said, breaking the silence. "Harry, what happened? According to Hagrid you were with Professor Dumbledore when he - when it happened. He says Professor Snape was involved in some -"

"Snape killed Dumbledore." said Harry.

McGonagall fell into a chair conjured by Madam Pomfrey. "Snape… we all wondered… but he trusted… always… Snape… I can't believe it…"

"Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens." said Remus, his voice uncharacteristically harsh. "We all knew that."

Sirius did not speak, but stared out the window, his hand still on Remus' shoulder.

"But Dumbledore swore he was on our side!" whispered Tonks. "I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn't…"

"He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for trusting Snape." muttered Professor McGonagall. "I mean… with Snape's history… of course people were bound to wonder… but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape's repentance was genuine… Wouldn't hear a word against him!"

"I'd love to know what Snape told him to convince him." said Tonks.

"He was the one…" said Sirius hesitantly. "Who overheard the prophecy… he told Voldemort the information that made him go after Lily and James."

Remus stood up suddenly. "Sirius… you knew that and you never told me?"

Sirius looked up at him, surprised. "James told me when he made me their Secret Keeper… I always thought he'd told you and Peter as well."

"No, he didn't." Remus glared at the ground.

"Dumbledore said Snape was really sorry that Voldemort went after my parents because of him. That he was really sorry he'd done it… sorry they were dead." Harry said.

"Snape hated James, though." said Remus angrily. "And he called Lily a Mudblood. He wouldn't give a damn about them."

"James believed Snape's loyalty." said Sirius, calmly. "And so did Lily." Harry stared at him incredulously. Sirius, the only person who hated Snape as much as Harry, sounded like… like he was defending him!

"What if they were wrong to believe him?" said Tonks.

"This is all my fault." said Professor McGonagall. "I sent Filius to fetch Snape tonight, I actually sent for him to come and help us! If I hadn't alerted Snape to what was going on, he might never have joined forces with the Death Eaters. I don't think he knew they were there before Filius told him, I don't think he knew they were coming."

"It isn't your fault, Minerva." said Remus. "We all wanted more help, and we were glad to think Snape was on his way…"

"All the Aurors were on high alert." said Sirius. "I had them stationed at the Room of Requirement and around the entrances to the school. I called in a few Order members, and some of the teachers were on patrol. The only thing that caught us by surprise was the arrival of you lot." He looked at Ron, Hermione, Luna and Ginny, and Harry assumed Neville was included in it. "I assumed Harry had warned you about the Vanishing Cabinet?"

"I called the others using our enchanted coins." said Hermione. "But only Luna and Neville answered."

"If we hadn't had Harry's Felix potion we all might've died." Ginny said. "But all the spells seemed to just miss us."

Sirius looked up at Harry. "I'm glad you left your friends that potion, but didn't you think you might need it yourself?"

"No… I was with Dumbledore. And I had this ankh you told me to wear." Harry pulled the golden amulet from under his shirt. "Does it really have magical powers?"

"Bill checked it himself." said Sirius. "It definitely has some sort of ancient protective magic infused within it. He thought you would need it the most, of all people."

They all looked at Bill.

"He probably needed it more than me tonight." said Harry, gazing upon Bill's ruined face.

"I doubt it would have protected him." said Remus for the first time since they'd left the topic of Snape behind.

At that moment, four people rushed into the room; Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were striding up the ward, clutching each other's arms. Percy and Fleur followed closely behind.

"Arthur - Molly -" said Professor McGonagall. "I'm so sorry-"

"Bill," whispered Molly as she darted past Professor McGonagall and caught sight of Bill's mangled face. "Oh, Bill!"

Remus, Tonks, Sirius, Harry and Nigel retreated so that the Weasleys could have some space.

"You said Greyback attacked him?" Arthur asked McGonagall. "But he hadn't transformed? So what does that mean? What will happen to Bill?"

McGonagall looked helplessly at Remus.

"There will probably be some contamination, Arthur." said Remus. "It is an odd case… We don't know what his behavior will be like when he awakens."

"And Dumbledore…" said Percy. "Professor, is it really true?"

Ginny took a step closer to Harry, her eyes narrowed at Fleur, who was gazing down at Bill with a frozen expression.

"Of course, it doesn't matter how he looks… but he was such a handsome boy… and he was going to get married!" said Mrs. Weasley.

"And what do you mean by zat?" Fleur demanded. "You theenk Bill will not wish to marry me anymore? You theenk, because of these bites, he will not love me? Because it would take more zan a werewolf to stop Bill loving me!" She paused, and her eyes read into Mrs. Weasley's expression. "Or you thought I would not weesh to marry him? What do I care how he looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave! And I shall do zat!" She snatched the ointment Mrs. Weasley had been dabbing on Bill's scars and pushed her out of the way.

Molly stepped back and watched her for a moment. "Our Great-Auntie Muriel has a very beautiful tiara - goblin-made - which I am sure I could persuade her to lend you for the wedding. She is very fond of Bill, you know, and it would look lovely with your hair."

"Thank you." said Fleur stiffly. "I am sure zat will be lovely."

And suddenly, both women were hugging each other and crying. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny exchanged incredulous glances.

Sirius looked at Remus. "See? Tonks isn't weird. Fleur doesn't care, either."

Remus faked an annoyed look and put an arm around Tonks.

Tonks looked at him and sighed. "I suppose we should tell them, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah." said Remus. He turned to everyone else. "We were going to wait until tomorrow to make the announcement…"

"You're getting married?" asked Luna. "How sweet."

Remus was at a loss for words but Tonks smiled. "Yes, Remus and I are getting married, on July 14th. It'll be small - just close friends and family."

"'Ow wonderful!" said Fleur. "I will 'elp with ze cake."

"Thank you, Fleur. That's very kind of you, considering you have a wedding of your own to plan." said Remus.

Hagrid came in just then, face swollen from crying and his voice cracking. "I've done it, Professor. M-moved him. Professor Sprout's got the kids back in bed and Professor Slughorn's contacted the Ministry."

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll be awaiting the Minister in the Headmaster's office. We have quite a bit to discuss."

She and Hagrid left.

"We should probably go, too." said Sirius. Everyone but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Percy, and Fleur stepped out into the corridor.

Nigel escorted Luna to Ravenclaw tower, and Tonks left to see her parents. ("They'll want to know I'm alive and all.")

Remus, Sirius, Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way to a private room, where Remus was staying for the night.

"So," said Sirius to Harry as they all sat down in comfortable chairs. "Did you find a Horcrux?"

Harry shook his head. "Someone got their before us." He handed Sirius the note and locket.

Sirius' eyes widened as he read the note aloud. "To the Dark Lord, I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real locket and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. R.A.B."

Sirius' eyes filled with tears and he thrust the items back into Harry's hands, standing up and leaning on the mantle of the fireplace, his back to them.

"Who's R.A.B.?" asked Ron.

"May I see that?" Remus asked. Harry gave him the note and Remus studied it. "Sirius… you know who wrote this, don't you?"

Sirius looked at them, tears streaming down his face. "I recognized it… I recognized the handwriting before… before I read the initials…"

Harry had never seen Sirius cry before. Even when Harry had duelled with Malfoy, even after the countless times Harry had been in danger, Sirius had never shed a tear. To see him so broken down, the only thing Harry could do was stand and hug him. Sirius returned the embrace, his whole body shaking.

"All these years I thought he'd been a coward… I never knew…" Sirius and Harry returned to the couch they'd been sitting on. "That note… it was written by my brother."

"Your brother?" said Hermione. "Regulus? I thought he was a Death Eater."

Sirius sniffed. "He was… until one day we'd heard he'd gotten cold feet and ran away. I was told some Death Eaters hunted him down and killed him."

"Regulus Arcturus Black…" said Remus. "R.A.B."

"But if he left this note," said Harry. "Then he must have found out about Voldemort's Horcruxes and managed to steal this one. Dumbledore nearly died when we were trying to get it, and that's probably what happened to Regulus…"

"But that means he died before he could destroy it!" said Ron. "So where's the locket?"

"Maybe we should ask Kreacher." said Hermione. They all looked at her. "He liked Regulus, didn't he? And wizards often tell their house-elves lots of things or they overhear things. I bet Kreacher might know something."

Sirius shrugged. "We can try…" He didn't seem at all eager to go back to Grimmauld Place or see Kreacher.

"Let's do that first thing this summer." said Remus. "For now, we all need to go to bed."

Hermione and Ron stood, and looked expectantly at Harry. Harry looked at his godfather. He didn't want to leave him. He didn't want to be alone… or for Sirius to be alone.

Sirius gave him a soft smile. "You can stay with me, Prongslet."

Hermione and Ron bade them goodnight and left for Gryffindor tower. Tonks returned a few minutes later and before she and Remus went to bed, Remus put a hand on Sirius' shoulder, just as Sirius had done for him in the Hospital Wing.

Sirius turned his tear-stricken face up to him.

"Padfoot, he died a hero in the end."


	28. Last Goodbye

The entire castle was in mourning all week. Classes and exams were suspended, and the second annual Games Day was canceled in favor of a funeral. Some parents removed their children from the school, although Seamus refused to leave with his mother when she arrived. Hundreds of wizards and witches were taking up rooms in Hogsmeade in order to attend the funeral. Madam Maxime arrived in her blue Beauxbatons carriage. A delegation of Ministry officials, including the Minister of Magic himself, were accommodated in the castle.

Harry avoided the Minister at all costs, knowing he would eventually be pressured to account for what he and Dumbledore were doing the night of the battle. Percy was a big help, having given Harry a run-down of where the Minister would generally be at different times of day. And when the schedule changed, Percy did his best to notify him, though there were a few close calls.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were spending all of their time together. Sometimes Sirius and Remus would join them, but Sirius still had his Auror duties and Remus was often busy with Tonks when she was off-duty. They would visit the hospital wing twice a day. Neville had been released but Bill was still under Madam Pomfrey's care.

His scarred face reminded Harry of Mad-Eye Moody, who had arrived two days before and could now be seen hobbling around the corridors, checking that the Aurors under his command were doing their jobs.

Other than the scars, Bill seemed just the same as he was before, though he now preferred his steaks rare.

Hermione was checking the Prophet day and night as usual, making sure nobody they knew had died.

"They're still looking for Snape but there's no sign of him." she said.

"Of course there isn't." said Harry. "They won't find Snape until they find Voldemort, and seeing how they haven't been able to do that..."

They were quiet for a moment, and then Ginny declared she was going to bed.

"Harry… I found something in the library this morning." said Hermione.

Harry looked at her. "What about?"

"I-I found something about Snape. See, Eileen Prince was Snape's mother."

Harry stared at her, but Ron said, "I thought she wasn't much of a looker."

"There was an announcement in an old Prophet about Eileen Prince marrying a Muggle named Tobias Snape, and then later an announcement saying that she had given birth to-"

"A murderer."

"Well, yes." said Hermione. "But I… we were right. That book was a hand-me-down. And Snape was half-blood, and he was 'half a Prince'."

"Yeah, he was just like Voldemort." said Harry. "Pure-blood mother, Muggle father… ashamed of his parentage, trying to make himself feared using the Dark Arts, gave himself an impressive new name - Lord Voldemort - the Half-Blood Prince - how could Dumbledore have missed -?"

"I wonder why Sirius and Remus didn't just say that Snape owned the book." said Ron. "If they knew who the Half-Blood Prince was, why wouldn't they tell Harry?"

"To be honest," Hermione said. "I don't think they knew that Snape was the Half-Blood Prince. Harry never told them about that. They recognized that Sectumsempra Curse, and knew who'd invented it. And I suppose they knew Snape used to write in his potions book."

Harry had to admit she was probably right, but he didn't want to talk about Snape anymore.

* * *

Harry rose early to pack the next day. The Hogwarts Express was leaving an hour after the funeral, and Harry would be going to the Dursleys for the last time. Downstairs in the Great Hall, everyone was wearing dark dress robes and eating very little.

Two seats at the teacher's table were empty: Dumbledore's, which McGonagall had left empty out of respect, despite her appointment as Headmistress (Flitwick was now Deputy Headmaster), and Hagrid's. Harry presumed that Hagrid had not been able to face breakfast. Snape's seat had been unceremoniously filled by Rufus Scrimgeour, whose yellowish eyes searched the Hall for Harry. He avoided that gaze and took his seat at Gryffindor table between Ron and Ginny. Percy sat on Ginny's other side. He had been sitting with them all week, preferring the company of his brother and sister over the Minister and his entourage. Harry could tell from Percy's nervous glances at the teacher table that the Minister was angry about this.

At the Slytherin table, Crabbe and Goyle looked very lonely without Malfoy. Harry knew Malfoy would not have killed Dumbledore, and Harry now felt pity for him, wondering where he was now, and what he was being forced to under the threat of his and his parents' deaths.

Professor McGonagall rose and the few people who were speaking grew quiet.

"It is nearly time. Please follow your Heads of Houses out into the grounds. Gryffindors, after me."

They filed out of the hall behind Professor McGonagall. They headed toward the lake, where hundreds of chairs had been set out in rows, with an aisle down the center of them, with a marble table standing at the front. The summer day was beautiful.

Half the chairs were already filled by an assortment of people. Harry spotted Sirius, Remus and the Weasleys sitting together in the fifth row, and he, Hermione, Percy, Ginny, and Ron joined them. Harry sat between Sirius and Ginny. Nigel, he noticed, was sitting in the row behind with his wife and daughters.

When Harry sat down, Sirius put an arm around his shoulders.

Harry glanced around at the crowd, recognizing several people from Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, as well as a few from the Ministry. He saw, to his chagrin, Rita Skeeter with her stupid quill and parchment at the ready, and Dolores Umbridge.

"What is she doing here?" Harry hissed to Sirius.

Sirius followed his gaze, and his eyes narrowed. He leaned toward Harry and whispered, "Scrimgeour believes her cock-and-bull story that what the Daily Prophet said was all rubbish."

"That's ridiculous!" said Harry. "Hundreds of students and the teachers can testify against her! Is he really going to believe her over an entire school-"

"An entire school run by Dumbledore?" Sirius interrupted. "Yeah, the Ministry hasn't been on great terms with Hogwarts. They only placed Aurors at the school to keep parents from worrying about their children."

Harry was about to retort when Remus leaned forward from Sirius' other side.

"The Ministry is making mistakes, Harry," said Remus. "and that's why it's more important than ever that we stick together. If the Ministry falls because they can't keep it together, then the Order of the Phoenix is the last thing standing in Voldemort's way. We must stay focused on our purpose. We can't worry about what others are doing, especially when they will not listen to reason."

"The only way we can truly help them is by stopping Voldemort." said Sirius.

At that moment, Hagrid lumbered past them carrying something long wrapped in purple silk cloth and Harry's breath caught. Seeing what he knew was Dumbledore's body was painful, and felt very final, more so than when he'd found DUmbledore lying at the base of the Astronomy tower.

He felt Sirius' hand tighten on his shoulder and glanced at him. His expression was stricken. On Sirius' other side, Remus was bent over in his chair, his head in his hands, looking as though he were going to vomit. Someone touched Harry's hand, and he turned to Ginny, whose eyes were welling up with tears. Harry took her hand and rubbed it with his thumb and she turned to him with a smile.

Hagrid lay the body on the marble table, and returned to his seat at the very back row, where his half-brother Grawp was waiting for him.

A tufty-looking wizard hopped up from his seat in the front row and stood in front of the marble table, facing the crowd. He began to speak, but it was almost impossible to hear him, even in the fifth row. The parts Harry did hear he thought had nothing to do with Dumbledore. It made him sound too somber and serious. Harry glanced at Sirius, who was looking past the speaker at the lake.

Finally, the wizard sat back down in his seat. The moment he did, a strange, eerie music chorused over the crowd. Everyone looked around for the source and Harry saw what Sirius had been looking at - the merpeople of the Black Lake, reminding Harry eerily of the Inferi that had nearly killed him and Dumbledore, had surfaced and were singing in honor of Dumbledore.

The creatures finished their song and dove back down to their watery home.

Then Dumbledore's body burst into bright white flames and several people screamed. Harry heard a phoenix singing and then saw it dive into the flames. There was a flash of light and a moment later, Harry saw that Dumbledore's body had been encased in a marble tomb that covered the table.

There were several more screams as the Centaurs, who had crept to the edge of the woods, shot arrows towards the tomb. They fell just short of the crowd, though, and Harry knew it was not to harm them or threaten them, but to honor Dumbledore. The Centaurs them slipped back into the depths of the forest. Firenze, who stood closer to the crowd and had been watching the funeral from the edge of the lake, did not show any sign he'd seen them.

Harry had expected more speeches, but suddenly everyone was rising and many people were leaving. Harry rose with Ginny and Sirius and they followed the rest of the Weasleys. They had just reached the end of the chairs when someone called behind them.

"Harry!"

Scrimgeour had caught up to them. Harry stopped and waited for him.

"I've been meaning to have a word with you, Harry." said the Minister. "Do you mind if I walk with you a little way?"

"No." said Harry, who started walking again.

"Harry, this was a dreadful tragedy," said Scrimgeour quietly. "I cannot tell you how appalled I was to hear of it. Dumbledore was a very great wizard. We had our disagreements, as you know, but know one knows better than I-"

"What do you want?" asked Harry.

"You are, of course, devastated. I know that you were very close to Dumbledore. I think you may have been his favorite pupil ever. The bond between the two of you-"

"What do you want?" Harry repeated, coming to a halt.

"The word is that you were with him when he left the school the night that he died." said Scrimgeour.

"Where I went with Dumbledore and what we did was my business. He didn't want people to know."

"Such loyalty is admirable, of course, but Dumbledore is gone, Harry. He's gone."

"He will only be gone from the school when none here are loyal to him." said Harry, smiling in spite of himself.

"My dear boy… even Dumbledore cannot return from the-"

"I am not saying he can. You wouldn't understand. But I've got nothing to tell you."

"The Ministry can offer you all sorts of protection, you know, Harry. I would be delighted to place a couple of my Aurors at your service-"

Harry laughed. "Voldemort wants to kill me himself, and Aurors won't stop him. So thanks for the offer, but no thanks."

"So," said Scrimgeour coldly. "The request I made of you at Christmas-"

"Released Stan Shunpike yet?"

Scrimgeour glared at him. "I see you are-"

"Dumbledore's man through and through." said Harry. "That's right."

Without another word, the Minister turned and limped away. Harry rejoined Sirius and the Weasleys, who'd been waiting a few few away.

"Nicely done." said Sirius without a smile.

A Ministry official approached them then, and Percy stepped forward.

"The Minister would like a word, Percy." the wizard said.

"You can tell him I'm busy, Paul." said Percy confidently. "I'm with my family."

"He said if you don't come with us, then you can start writing up your resume." Paul didn't speak with malice in his voice. In fact, he sounded as though he were afraid for Percy.

Percy crossed his arms. "Then I suppose it's a good thing I haven't renewed the lease on my flat, isn't it?"

Paul shrugged and returned to the Minister's side. Percy turned back to his mother and the twins, with whom he'd been conversing.

Sirius looked at Harry. "You're all packed?" Harry nodded. "Then you four should go and get your things. I'll be waiting at Platform 9 ¾."

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny retrieved their things from Gryffindor tower and then made their way to Hogsmeade station. The path to the village was dotted with Aurors. Harry looked for Nigel, Willow, Tonks and Sirius, but didn't see them until they reached the station. Harry felt Sirius' eyes on him as he boarded the train with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.

As the train pulled away from the station, Harry looked out the window for Sirius. He spotted him, and their eyes met for a moment. Then, Sirius turned on the spot and vanished.


	29. One Last Time

**Albus Dumbledore Remembered**

By Elphias Doge

_I met Albus Dumbledore at the age of eleven, on our first day at Hogwarts. Our mutual attraction was undoubtedly due to the fact that we both felt ourselves to be outsiders. I had contracted dragon pox shortly before arriving at school, and while I was…_

Harry finished the article, and for a few minutes he simply stared at the picture of Dumbledore that accompanied the obituary. Reading it, he felt as though he had hardly known him. He had never thought to ask Dumbledore about his past. And now, Harry would never have a chance to ask him anything ever again.

"You alright, Prongslet?"

Harry looked up, startled. He wasn't sure when Sirius had arrived, or how long he'd been standing in the doorway of his bedroom at Number Four, Privet Drive, but he was glad to see him. He hadn't spoken to anyone since he'd gotten there.

"I'm fine. I was just reading…" Harry folded up the day's issue of the Daily Prophet and followed Sirius downstairs, carrying only a backpack. He'd only brought a few things this time, the last time.

The Dursleys had left him alone the past three days, as they had been busy packing. Once they'd agreed to go into hiding, the Dursleys and Harry didn't have anything more to say to each other.

Harry had walked past Dudley a few times, and his cousin looked as though he wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words to. Harry was beginning to think their conversation a year ago, in which Dudley gave him a birthday cake, had been an anomaly.

Dudley and Petunia were downstairs in the dining room, which was devoid of furniture, with Remus. No one was talking.

"Where's Uncle Vernon?" asked Harry.

"Packing a few more things into the car." said Petunia.

"Right, then." Sirius said. "Your guards should be here in a few minutes."

Vernon Dursley came in just then, eyeing Sirius and Remus angrily.

"Well, where are they?" He demanded.

A knock on the door answered his question. Dedalus Diggle greeted them all jovially, while Hestia Jones was a little more dignified.

After a few minutes of Vernon's grumbling, he followed Dedalus out to the car. Hestia pulled Sirius and Remus to the sitting room for a quick discussion, leaving Harry alone with Dudley and Petunia.

Harry decided to speak first. "Well, good bye then."

Petunia looked at him, her eyes meeting his, and Harry somehow knew she was thinking her sister, his mother.

"There's photo albums… in the attic. And a few things of hers she left at our parents' house." She said stiffly. "They didn't fit in the car… and I don't really need them…"

"I can have them?" Harry asked bluntly. "Is that what you're saying?"

For a moment, it didn't seem as though Aunt Petunia would answer.

"Yes." she finally said with a swift nod. "They're yours."

It was the kindest thing Aunt Petunia had ever done for him. He was surprised she'd kept anything of the sister she'd always claimed to loathe. He wondered if Aunt Petunia had always planned on giving him his mother's old things. Either way, he was grateful to have a chance to learn more about his mother.

"Thank you." he said.

Aunt Petunia glanced at him one last time, and then said. "Goodbye, Harry." She left, joining Vernon outside.

"Sorry."

Harry looked up at Dudley, who was staring at the floor. "For what?"

"Everything."

Harry was a bit taken aback, and wasn't sure what to say.

"All those things you said last year…" said Dudley. "I never really apologized… and I never thanked you, either."

"What would you thank me for?"

"For saving my life. From those things…" Dudley said.

Harry realized Dudley was talking about the Dementors. "Oh, yeah, uh… you're welcome."

"I meant it last year." Dudley looked at him finally. "I don't think you're a waste of space."

"Thanks, Dudley." Harry said quietly.

Dudley moved towards him and for a moment Harry thought he was going to hug him, but the larger boy walked past him to door. "Well, I guess this is goodbye." He said awkwardly.

"Yeah, I guess it is." said Harry.

"Good luck with… whatever you have to do."

"Thanks."

With that, Dudley joined his parents outside. Hestia followed soon after and Remus, Sirius and Harry watched the car drive away. They went upstairs to the attic and found the box of Harry's mothers' things, and then returned to the dining room where Remus shrunk the objects and slipped them into his pocket.

"So," said Harry. "How are we getting out of here? Once I leave, the blood magic breaks, right?"

"I'm surprised you didn't ask earlier." said Sirius. "Come in here."

Harry followed Sirius and Remus to the sitting room, where, to Harry's surprise, a Vanishing Cabinet stood in front of the fireplace.

"Took a leaf from Malfoy's book." said Sirius. "It's not the same set he used."

"Where did you get this one then?" asked Harry.

"Nigel's grandparents owned a set. They died a year ago and Nigel has been cleaning out their house. He found these a while back and offered them to the Order." Sirius explained.

"Doesn't he work for the Ministry?"

"Technically, he still does, but he joined the Order just before Dumbledore's death." said Sirius, opening the cabinet. "Come on, step inside with me."

Harry didn't move. "But won't someone be able to follow us through?"

"I'm going to destroy it once you're through." said Remus. "And then I will Apparate back to Crescent Falls."

Harry opened his mouth to say more but Sirius spoke before he could.

"Remus will be fine." Sirius said. "He won't even have to leave the house to Disapparate. Once you leave, the wards break."

Harry relented and climbed into the cabinet with Sirius. Remus closed the door and Sirius muttered something under his breath. A moment later, Harry felt like he was floating through water. It was a strange, calm feeling. Then, quite abruptly, he was back in the cabinet with Sirius.

They stepped out, and found themselves just inside Crescent Valley. Harry could hear the loud roar of the waterfall on the other side of the cave.

He watched as Sirius raised his wand, and the cabinet exploded. A moment later, there was another, deafening explosion, and a burst of light from the cave. Remus emerged, looking unharmed but soaking wet and breathing hard as though he'd been running.

Sirius pulled him under the willow trees, where they would be able to hear each other.

"They were waiting…" Remus told them, trying to catch his breath. "But I moved before… and their spells collided."

"They can't follow us." Sirius said. "They may know where the Falls are, but they can't enter the valley."

Sirius led them to Crystal Cottage. Harry was glad to see the fairytale-like house. He hadn't seen it since Christmas. It looked, Harry thought, like home.


	30. R.A.B.

"God I hate this place." said Sirius quietly as they snuck past his mother's covered portrait.

Number twelve, Grimmauld Place looked as grimy as ever as Remus, Sirius, and Harry stepped into the drawing room on the first floor.

"Before we go any further, we have to be sure…" Remus said. He raised his wand and muttered, "Homenum Revelio."

Nothing happened.

"Safe, then." said Sirius.

"You think Snape might come here?" asked Harry.

With Dumbledore's death, the job of Secret Keeper for Grimmauld Place had passed to all who had been told its location, including Snape. The Order had permanently vacated the building because of it. McGonagall had moved headquarters to Hogwarts.

Snape's access to it made Sirius very reluctant to bring Harry there. Finding the locket Horcrux was necessary, and Harry had insisted on helping look for it.

"Wand at the ready, Harry." said Sirius.

Harry pulled his wand out, secretly hoping Snape did show up so he could curse him.

"Relax." Sirius said, noticing Harry's fingers tighten around his wand. Harry loosened his grip.

"Where are the others?" Harry asked.

"Arthur should be here with Percy soon. Mad-Eye and Tonks are at the door." said Remus. He left the room to usher them inside without setting off Mrs. Black.

"How did he know that?" Harry asked.

"I've always assumed he has a heightened sense of smell," said Sirius with a shrug. "Because of his werewolf genes."

Harry considered this for a moment. "Do you think he has heightened hearing, too? He always heard what students were whispering back in third year."

Sirius grinned. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he does."

Remus returned moments later, accompanied by Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody. Arthur and Percy arrived moments later.

"Let's get to work, then, and find this damned locket." said Mad-Eye.

"Where do we start?" asked Arthur.

"Kreacher." said Sirius. With a crack, Kreacher appeared in front of him. Harry could tell Sirius was holding back a sneer.

"Master called?" said Kreacher.

"I did, Kreacher. I've got a few questions for you. And you will answer them honestly." Sirius said.

Kreacher did not look happy about this.

Sirius reached into a pocket of his robes and pulled out the fake Horcrux.

"Do you recognize this?"

Kreacher's eyes widened. "Yes."

"It was Regulus' wasn't it?" Sirius asked.

"Yes."

"Kreacher," Sirius kneeled down and looked the house-elf in the eyes. "What happened to my brother?"

And Kreacher began his tale. He told them how Regulus had joined the Death Eaters, but had come home a few months later to tell Kreacher that Voldemort needed a house-elf and Regulus had volunteered Kreacher. He told them how Voldemort had taken Kreacher to a cave, across a lake, and made him drink a dreadful potion so he could place the dark locket inside, how he Disapparated home because Regulus had told him to return no matter what.

And then, nearly in tears, he recounted how Regulus made Kreacher take him to the cave, across the lake and to the tiny island. After a fit of grief, he finally told them about Regulus' ordering Kreacher to force Regulus to drink the potion, and then to take the locket, replace it with the one Sirius was holding, and destroy it.

"But Kreacher could not destroy it! Kreacher did everything he could think of, but the locket was indestructible!"

Sirius was in tears, and clutching the locket so tightly Harry knew it would leave imprints on his hand. Sirius wiped the tears away.

In a broken voice, he said. "Kreacher, where is the locket now?"

Kreacher stopped howling for a moment. "Kreacher hid it."

"Bring it to me." Sirius said. Kreacher vanished with a crack and returned a minute later, holding a locket with Slytherin's mark.

The moment Kreacher returned, Harry could feel his scar tingling. "That's it. That's the Horcrux."

Sirius took the locket from Kreacher and gave it to Harry. He turned back to Kreacher.

"Thank you for your help, Kreacher." said Sirius. "We'll destroy that locket, just like Regulus wanted." He looked at the fake locket in his hand, and exchanged a glance with Harry. "Kreacher, I think Regulus would have wanted you to have this."

He held out the fake locket. For a moment, Kreacher was frozen in shock, his eyes so wide that Harry thought he might have died.

"Kreacher can keep Master Regulus' locket?"

Sirius smiled, an expression he'd rarely had in Grimmauld Place. "Yeah, you've earned it."

Kreacher took the locket gingerly and pulled it over his head. He studied it with an expression of happiness Harry had never seen on the bitter house-elf.

"Kreacher is… most grateful."

Sirius stood back up. "We'll be leaving now, Kreacher. Grimmauld Place isn't safe anymore."

Kreacher looked up at Sirius. He seemed to regard his master in a new light.

"In fact, I think you should leave, too. But where…?" Sirius turned to the others for help.

"You could send him to Hogwarts. He can join the house-elves there." said Remus.

"Good idea." Sirius said. "Kreacher, you are to work at Hogwarts until I give you permission to return to Grimmauld Place."

"Master wishes for me to leave the Black house?"

"For now, Kreacher. One day, we will return."

Harry was surprised to hear Sirius say this. He never expected Sirius to want to live in his childhood home again.

Kreacher bowed deeply. "Very well, Master. Kreacher will go to Hogwarts." With that, he vanished.

"Great, now let's get out of here." said Moody. "And destroy that bloody thing."

* * *

They returned to Crystal Cottage by Apparating to the Burrow, and flooing home.

"So what do we do with it now?" asked Sirius.

"We have to destroy it." said Harry.

"And how does one destroy a Horcrux?" asked Remus.

"I… don't know." said Harry. "Dumbledore never told me how to destroy a Horcrux."

"Well, I suppose we'll have to do some research, then." said Remus, sounding very much like Hermione.

"With what, Remus? Even my family doesn't have any books about Horcruxes." said Sirius.

"Then that's our next step - finding information on Horcruxes." said Remus. "And I suggest we start in the Headmaster's office. If he was researching Horcruxes, he must have had some books on the subject."

"Until we figure how to destroy it," said Harry. "We need a safe place to keep it."

Remus went to the study and returned, moments later, with a large, old volume. He smiled at their questioning glances and opened the book. The interior was hollow.

"I used to keep a journal in here. I didn't want anyone to read it, so I hollowed out an old book no one ever read."

"Seriously, Moony? You kept a diary?"

Remus glared at Sirius and handed the book to Harry, who gently set the Horcrux inside and closed it.

They went to the study, where Harry returned the hollow book to the place Remus had removed it from amongst the dusty volumes.

"So," said Remus. "Is anyone hungry?"

"Starving!" said Sirius and Harry.

"Good, then you two can go cook dinner."

"What? But Moony!" Sirius said. "What are you going to be doing?"

Remus grinned "I have a wedding to prepare, remember?"


	31. Diamond in the Rough

"Tonks' mom, Andromeda, and Molly will be here soon to start cooking." said Sirius as Harry descended the stairs carrying a gift wrapped in white paper on top of a stack of old records. "And you can set that on the coffee table."

"Where's Remus?" asked Harry. Sirius was, of course, the best man, and Harry was a groomsman. Harry had been upstairs all morning, sifting through and finding records to play on the record player from an old box in the attic. He had only finished ten minutes ago, and gone downstairs to find everyone, his gift for the happy couple in tow.

"Helping set up the decorations outside. Bill's up and about now and wanted to help, and Charlie's back from Romania early - he's Bill's best man but he also went to school with Tonks so he returned a few weeks before he needed to in order to attend this wedding. Percy is out there, too. The twins and I came inside for a break." Sirius explained, sounding somewhat nervous.

Harry set his gift for Remus and Tonks on the coffee table. "And where are the twins?"

Sirius avoided his gaze, and feigned glancing around for them. "Well, I seem to have lost them, haven't I?"

Harry shook his head. "What are you three planning and why aren't I in on it?"

Sirius laughed. "Just a fireworks show at the end. Fred and George and I have been working on it for weeks. We finally got them to spell Tonks' name correctly, and they're out there right now setting them up. They should be done in a few minutes."

Harry looked out the window, where Remus and the three eldest Weasleys' were decorating an arch and rows of chairs with red and white roses. Sirius joined him there.

"James chose lilies for your parents' wedding." said Sirius. "Lily thought it wasn't very creative, but in the end, she had to agree it was beautiful."

"You were the best man in their wedding, too, weren't you?" asked Harry.

"Aye, and I never thought I'd be in Remus'. He always swore he'd never marry. I thought he was being stubborn, but I never wanted to marry, either, so I couldn't say much."

"Why didn't you want to get married?"

Sirius sighed. "I don't know if anyone's told you this, but I was very rebellious as a teenager. I never wanted to stay in one place, and I thought being married and having children would tie me down and take away my freedom."

He looked at Harry. "Amazing how things change, eh? When you were born, it was one of the happiest days of my life. James let me hold you, and I took you in my arms, and I realized I never wanted to let you go. Remus had to remind me you weren't my son. And then James named me godfather and I knew that if anything ever happened to your parents, I wouldn't hesitate to take you in, to raise you with love and care."

"But that never happened." Harry said sharply. "Because Pettigrew had to ruin everything."

"Harry…" Sirius wrapped his arms around his godson. "I know you want to be angry at him, but it's time we moved on. Pettigrew is in Azkaban for life, and you and I are finally together. Besides, I made mistakes, too. If I hadn't gone after him, if I'd gone to Dumbledore and told him the truth…"

Harry could feel hot tears in his eyes. "But Dumbledore wouldn't have given me to you even if you hadn't gone to Azkaban!"

He felt his godfather's arms tighten around him and felt a warm drop on his neck. Sirius was crying, too, he realized.

The door opened and, thinking it was the twins, they broke apart and quickly wiped away the tears.

But it was Molly and another woman with dark hair and heavy-lidded eyes. Harry felt a burst of anger and whipped out his wand.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded. Sirius batted his arm down and Harry gave him a questioning look.

"That's not Bellatrix, Prongslet." he said, and then he moved to greet the woman with open arms. "Andromeda! Long time no see!"

"Sirius! How's my favorite cousin?"

They embraced and then Andromeda Tonks turned to Harry.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were-"

"No need to worry, dear. I've become accustomed to that sort of reaction. Makes me wish I was a Metamorphmagus like my daughter." said Andromeda.

Fred and George returned at that moment, so Sirius and Harry went outside to assist with the wedding preparations.

The back garden looked beautiful. In a round, open space, the arch stood in front of a simple fountain, and several rows of chairs, with an aisle down the middle, were decorated with red and white roses that matched those on the arch.

"Who is going to marry them?" asked Harry, realizing he'd never heard of a wizard priest.

"Nigel's father." said Sirius. "It's a small world - he and Ted, Tonks' father, are friends in the Ministry. Richard Wright has a license for it."

"Alright! That's everything for the ceremony!" Bill called. "Fred, George, have you two finished the enchantments for the lanterns? We'll need them if the reception goes late into the night."

Fred and George saluted him. "'Course we have, brother dearest."

"Good, then let's go set up the tent." Bill's gaze slipped past the twins to Harry and Sirius. "Harry! Didn't see you there!"

"Hey, Bill. Want some help?"

"Yeah, we need another wand. Dad was supposed to be here but he had to go see McGonagall." Bill gathered his brothers together, and Remus joined them a moment later.

"The reception will be next to the pond." Remus told Harry. He and Bill led the way, and then the eight of them formed a square.

Sirius taught Harry the spell, and together, the group conjured a simple, cream-colored canopy tent anchored to the ground by eight lines. Harry noticed that although the lines kept the tent down, nothing seemed to be holding it up.

"Magic." said Sirius when Harry asked about this. Not for the last time, Harry felt his chest swell. He loved magic.

They went inside after that, where Andromeda and Molly had been joined by Ginny, Hermione, Fleur and Willow. Tonks had chosen Willow and Hermione as her bridesmaids.

"The food will be ready in half an hour." said Molly. "We've got some freshness and warming spells that'll keep it good until the reception. You lot need to be getting ready."

She and Andromeda ushered them all upstairs. The girls took Remus' room, as it had a vanity. The Weasley brothers took Sirius' room, and Remus, Sirius, and Harry went to Harry's room. Molly and Andromeda would be joining the girls once the food was done.

Remus was very quiet.

"Alright, Moony?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah, I was just thinking…" said Remus. "Well, wishing, really. My parents… Lily and James… I just wish they could be here…"

"They'd be proud, Remus." said Harry, surprising both of the older men. "I know I never really knew them, but…"

"No, you're right, Harry. All of them would be proud." said Sirius. "And your mother wouldn't have been able to keep a tear out of her eyes."

Remus smiled. "I'm glad both of you could be here."

Half an hour later, Molly shouted for all of the men to stay in the rooms. Tonks had arrived. They heard her, Molly, and Andromeda shuffling into Remus' room with all the girls, who greeted her with girly giggles.

"All clear!" called Andromeda, followed by a door shutting and a locking sound.

The men were all ready at this point, so they went downstairs. Harry and Sirius both wore black dress robes with white shirts and red vests and ties. Remus wore a similar outfit, but his tie was silver, and a rose had been pinned to his lapel. The Weasleys all wore variations of black dress robes with varying colors. None of them had worn red, which would have clashed with their hair, but it also helped Harry and Sirius stand out more as the groomsmen.

"Why did we get dressed so early?" asked Fred.

"Yeah, the girls only just started on Tonks. It'll take them two hours." said George.

"Well, it's only noon, and the ceremony starts in two hours, so that's a good thing." said Percy. "We need to be here to greet the guests."

"Richard and Nigel are here." said Sirius, looking out the window. He let them in, and introduced Richard to those who hadn't yet met him. Richard pulled Remus aside to discuss the ceremony, and Nigel, who was also garbed in black dress robes, took Sirius outside for a few minutes, both returning with wide grins.

"Harry, have you read this?" Percy held out the Daily Prophet to him, showing him an article about Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore, the Truth at Last?" Fred read over his shoulder.

"The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore?" Harry read angrily.

"By Rita Skeeter?!" read Ron. "Who does she think she is? First all that stuff about Harry and now this?"

"Can't anyone stop her?" Harry asked Percy.

"The Minister could… if he wanted to." said Percy. "But he won't. I just thought you should know about it."

"Thanks, Percy." said Harry. He read the rest of the article, a silent fury rising in him. With Percy's permission, he took the paper up to his room and left it on his desk.

The guests soon began arriving, and the party moved outside to the chairs. Most of the guests comprised of friends, as Remus' family had all passed and Tonks wasn't really on speaking terms with much of her family. Ted Tonks, her father, arrived with his Muggle parents, however, and they were fascinated by everything about Crystal Cottage, even walking under the waterfall. It was this that made most of the guests arrive via floo, but Muggles couldn't use the floo network, nor could Hagrid, as he didn't fit in most fireplaces.

Feeling fairly useless, Harry offered to give Ted's parents a tour of the garden, naming what plants he could for them, and their uses.

Astrid, Nigel's wife, arrived with the twins, Christina and Evelina, who were the flower girls. She took them upstairs to where the girls were.

Several Hogwarts professors, including McGonagall, Flitwick and Slughorn took seats on Remus' side.

A Muggle cousin of Tonks' was led through the waterfall by Willow's brother, Theodore Vale. Ruth Tonks was the mother of six-year-old Phillip, the ring-bearer. Theodore was accompanied by his adopted brother, Isidor. They were both rather quiet, unlike Ruth, who, like Ted's parents, was curious about everything. The Vales took seats with her on Tonks' side.

"Phillip's shown signs of magic." Ted told Harry. "And Ruth's over the moon about it."

Finally, Molly returned and called Ted, Harry, and Sirius inside.

She also summoned Isidor.

"Now, then," said Molly, gathering the bridesmaids, groomsmen, Andromeda, Ted, Tonks and Isidor. "When the music starts, Isidor will escort Andromeda down the aisle. She'll sit down in the first row - Isidor, you sit there, too, but leave a space for Ted."

Harry studied Isidor for a moment. He was tall and handsome, with messy dark hair and brown eyes that seemed to hold an unfathomable sadness within them.

"Then, Harry, just as rehearsed, you'll walk down with Hermione, and you'll split at the end and stand with Remus and Tonks. Sirius will go with Willow, and once you're all there, I'll change the music to the wedding march, and," she turned to the flower girls and the ringbearer, "The three of you will walk down the aisle. You girls will drop rose petals, and Phillip will carry the rings. You remember what to do? Good. Then, Ted will lead Tonks down the aisle, and the ceremony will begin!"

They had a few moments to prepare, and Harry whispered to Sirius. "Who is that man?" He motioned to Isidor, who was listening to Andromeda.

"Not sure, to be honest. I know he's Willow's adopted brother, but he'd lost his memory when they adopted him and doesn't know who he is. He's always looked very familiar to me." said Sirius.

"But why is he walking Andromeda down the aisle?" asked Harry.

"I think they've become friends."

At Mrs. Weasley's instruction Harry lined up behind Isidor and Andromeda. He held out his arm for Hermione.

"Isn't this exciting?" asked Hermione. She wore a lovely, strapless red dress that stopped at her knees. Willow was wearing the same dress behind them. "I couldn't believe it when Tonks asked me to be her bridesmaid! I thought, perhaps, it was because you were a groomsman, but she said it had nothing to do with that. She thought I was a good friend and everything and-"

The music started then, and the french doors that led to the backyard opened.

Isidor escorted Andromeda down the aisle and helped her into her seat, then sat a seat away from her. Harry and Hermione set out next, and separated in front of Remus and Richard. Hermione took her place a few feet from where Tonks would stand, and Harry stood a few feet from Remus, leaving a space for Sirius, who joined him a minute later.

Then, the music changed to a traditional wedding march, and Christina and Evelina, the flower girls, skipped gracefully down the aisle, leaving a trail of red rose petals in the wake. Phillip, his head held high, proudly walked behind them, holding a pillow that bore two golden rings. While the twins stood in front of Hermione and Willow, Phillip stood in front of Sirius and Harry.

There was a collective gasp as Tonks appeared, clutching her father's arm tightly. Harry looked at Remus. He'd never seen him so happy before. Looking back at Tonks, he could tell why Remus didn't take his eyes off her. She wore a simple, strapless white dress that, even though she wore heels, swept the ground. A red stripe ran vertically down the back of her dress, ending at the edge of the small train. Her hair, which she'd left brown, was curled and settled gracefully over one shoulder, and a white veil covered her face.

As they reached the end of the aisle, Ted uncovered her face, laying the veil over her hair. He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek, and then passed her hand to Remus, who led her to the arch that Richard stood under.

The ceremony was short, consisting of a small speech from Richard and then the wedding vows. Phillip handed over the rings, which the bride and groom placed on each other's fingers.

"And now, you may kiss the bride."

There was cheering and applause as Remus and Tonks kissed, and some catcalls from Fred and George. Molly, unfortunately for them, was sitting behind them and smacked them both with her clutch.

After some photos, the wedding party joined the rest of the guests, who had already taken their seats at the round tables under the tent.

The six of them sat down at a rectangular table, facing all the other tables.

Sirius leaned over to Harry. "This is what it's like to sit at the teacher's table in Hogwarts."

Harry smiled. "You know, I overheard you and McGonagall the other day. She's offered you a job teaching Transfiguration, and Remus a job as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher again."

"Yeah, we're both still deciding whether we're going to take it." said Sirius. "I've grown fond of being an Auror again, and I'm not sure I'm ready to let go just yet."

"You would be a great teacher though," said Harry, "if you wanted to. We all learned a lot in Duelling Club."

"You think so?"

"Of course." said Harry.

An hour later, everyone had eaten and dancing had started. Harry found Ginny and asked her to dance, while Ron asked Hermione. They joined the slow dance alongside Nigel and Sirius. After a while, Bill cut in, and Harry reluctantly left Ginny to her brothers.

"They're doing that on purpose." said Remus as Harry walked by him. He'd taken a break from dancing and was sipping water. "They won't let you have Ginny so easily."

"Brilliant." said Harry.

Remus returned to Tonks then, and Harry, who felt rather tired and hot, decided to step outside the tent.

There was only one other person out there. Isidor Vale had his back to Harry, facing the pond, his face tilted up towards the blue sky. Harry decided to join him, and, coming up next to him, he saw the other man's eyes were closed.

"Hello…" said Harry.

Isidor's eyes opened and he looked down at Harry. "Hello. You're one of the groomsmen." Harry was both surprised and relieved at the lack of recognition.

"Yeah, Remus was a friend of my dad's." said Harry. "You're Willow's brother, right?"

Isidor nodded. "Yes, I'm Isidor. Theo and Will adopted me about… sixteen years ago."

"Sirius told me you lost your memory."

"Indeed, he is correct. I only remember my first name." He looked at Harry. "You are Harry Potter?"

Harry had been hoping Isidor wouldn't recognize him. He'd purposely covered his scar so that no one would goggle at him.

"Yeah, that's me." said Harry.

"You don't sound too happy about it." said Isidor. "But I suppose your life has been very eventful since you began Hogwarts."

"How did you-?"

"Daily Prophet's written tons about you." said Isidor. "And Willow is Tonks' best friend. I've heard all about your adventures. I was sorry to hear about the boy who died a couple years ago, in the Triwizard Tournament. I met Amos Diggory a few times and he was very kind… albeit overwhelming at times."

"Yeah… Cedric was a great wizard…" said Harry, wishing they could talk about something else.

"And then Tonks told me Voldemort was back." Isidor looked up at the clouds. "Strange thing is, I didn't feel anything. I don't remember the last wizarding war, you know. When Theo and Will found me, the war was already over. I don't remember what I did during the war, if I was even on the right side… Everyone else is terrified of him, but I don't even know what to feel."

"You don't have to feel anything." said Harry. "And you shouldn't worry about your past right now. What matters is the people you care about, and protecting them."

Isidor turned his face back to Harry. "That's very wise." He said quietly.

"Izzy!"

They turned to see Willow smiling and half-dancing across the path from the tent. "Stop skulking out here! Come dance with me!" She glanced at Harry. "Ginny is looking for you. Both of you, come on!"

Harry followed Willow back under the tent as she tugged Isidor behind her. Ginny found him a moment later and he spent the rest of the afternoon at her side.

The party continued into the night until guests slowly returned to Crystal Cottage to floo home. Finally, the bride and groom left for their honeymoon in London. The only ones left were Harry, Hermione, Sirius, the Vales, and Tonks' Muggle grandparents and cousins.

Sirius led the grandparents upstairs to Remus' room. Ruth and Phillip would be staying in the guest room. Harry would sleep in Sirius' room so Hermione could have Harry's room.

"Everyone settled, then?" asked Theodore. "Good, Izzy and I will be back in the morning to take Tonks' family home. Good night, everyone. Nice meeting you, Harry, Hermione." With that, Theodore, Isidor, and Willow stepped through the flames to return to their home.

"They don't live far from here." said Sirius as he and Harry changed out of their dress robes. "The Vales have a cottage in the forest surrounding the falls."

"I talked to Isidor earlier." said Harry. "He said he'd lost his memory before Theodore and Willow found him, almost sixteen years ago, right after the war ended. He doesn't remember the war at all."

"I wouldn't know, to be honest…" said Sirius. "I didn't meet them until after I got my Auror job. Willow introduced me to the two of them at her birthday party. I do know her parents died when she was a baby, though. Some Death Eaters killed them, but Theodore took his sister and escaped. He's way older than her, around Molly's age, but I've no clue how old Isidor is. I don't think he knows himself."

"He told me he couldn't even remember whether he was on our side or a Death Eater…" said Harry. "But if he was on the Order's side, wouldn't someone have remembered him by now?"

"Isidor may not have joined a side. A lot of wizards and witches didn't fight in the war. They just went into hiding. The Vales did, too, but they were found. Willow's mother was a Muggle, and that made them an enemy of Voldemort. Theodore and Willow went into hiding with Nigel's family, but none of them joined the Order in the first war. They did this time around because of Willow and Nigel." Sirius yawned. "Come on, it's late. We've got to get up early to take Hermione home."

Harry lay awake sometime after that. He wasn't sure why Isidor interested him so much. He couldn't begin to understand how the man felt, not knowing who he was, and for so long, too. Harry hoped Isidor remembered who he was one day, and reunited with his family.

* * *

The next morning, Harry and Sirius took Hermione home, and the Vales returned for the Tonks' Muggle relatives.

"When will Tonks and Remus come back?" asked Harry as they prepared lunch that afternoon.

"Day after tomorrow. They don't want to be gone too long." said Sirius. "You know, I've been thinking… Tonks will be moving into Crystal Cottage…"

"You think we should move out?" asked Harry knowingly.

"Yeah… I thought Grimmauld Place or your parent's house in Godric's Hollow. We'd have to fix up both houses, either way…"

"But isn't Grimmauld Place vulnerable because of the Fidelius Charm?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, but with Kreacher's magic, now that he's fonder of us, we could end the Charm and recast it, with me as the Secret Keeper." said Sirius. "We'd have to cast it on Godric's Hollow, too."

"What does it look like? My parent's house?"

Sirius glanced at him. "I'd forgotten… you haven't ever visited, have you?"

Harry shook his head.

"Then, what do you say we go there after your birthday?" asked Sirius. "You've still got the Trace on you, so the Ministry can track where you Apparate to, and we know that the Death Eaters have infiltrated the Ministry. Once you pass your test, we'll go."

"You mean it?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Of course." said Sirius. "In disguise, though… It's still dangerous for us to be out too long, and they might expect you to visit Godric's Hollow."

Harry was glad to have more than his Apparition license to look forward to.


	32. Party Crasher

He was walking along a mountain road in the cool blue light of dawn. Far below, swathed in mist, was the shadow of a small town. Was the man he sought down there, the man he needed so badly he could think of little else, the man who held the answer, the answer to his problem….?

"Aguamenti!"

"Agh!" Harry fell out of his bed trying to avoid the jet of water that had suddenly blasted him in the face.

"Constant vigilance, Harry! Didn't Moody teach you anything?" said a laughing voice.

"Tonks!" Harry untangled himself from his sheets and put his glasses on to see Remus, Tonks and Sirius, all doubled over laughing.

"Happy Birthday, Harry!" shouted Sirius, tackling his soaked godson in a bear hug.

"Ha, thanks Padfoot." said Harry as Sirius put him down. "Whose idea was it to spray me with water?"

"Tonks'." said Remus.

"Sirius'." said Tonks.

"Remus'." said Sirius.

Harry quirked an eyebrow at them. "You do know this means war, right?"

"Three against one. What have we got to worry about?" asked Tonks.

"That's for me to know." said Harry.

"Right…" said Sirius, sounding a bit worried. "Want me to dry off you and your bed?"

Harry shook his head. "Have you forgotten? I'm seventeen! I can do magic outside Hogwarts."

He picked up his wand and did a Drying Spell on himself and his bed. Then, he thought about the housekeeping spells he'd seen Sirius and Remus use around the cottage. He waved his wand again, and his bed linens and pillows arranged themselves neatly on the bed.

"Nicely done." said Sirius. "You could teach Tonks a thing or two."

"Oh, very funny, Sirius." said Tonks jokingly. "Come on downstairs, Harry! We've got presents and breakfast! Everyone's coming over for your party later."

"When is Hermione getting here?" asked Harry. "Isn't she spending the rest of the summer with us?"

"I'll be picking her up from her house in a few hours." said Tonks.

Tonks and Remus went downstairs and Harry moved to follow them, but Sirius held out his hand.

"You were muttering in your sleep, you know." said Sirius.

"Was I?"

"Yeah, you kept saying, 'Gregorovitch' over and over."

"Whose Gregorovitch?" Harry felt he had heard the name before but couldn't figure out where.

"He's a wandmaker. Retired now, though." Sirius said.

"Of course!" cried Harry. "He made Viktor Krum's wand!"

"Not surprising. Gregorovitch used to make wands for Durmstrang students." Sirius told him.

"I think Voldemort's looking for him."

"Strange." Sirius looked deep in thought for a moment, but then looked back at Harry. "Try to shut it out, Prongslet."

"How exactly do I do that when I'm sleeping?"

Sirius ran his fingers through his long, dark hair. "We'll have to figure something out. Maybe there's a charm we can place on your ankh… or a potion you can drink before bed each night…"

Tonks shouted to them from the kitchen then, and Sirius shook his head. "Come on then, we'd better go before she hexes us. Don't worry about Gregorovitch."

Harry followed him downstairs and found two presents sitting there on the kitchen table. He unwrapped a selection of Honeydukes fudge from Remus and Tonks.

"McGonagall's told us there won't be any Hogsmeade weekends this year." said Remus. "And we know how hard it is to go very long without sweets from Honeydukes."

"Thanks." said Harry. "I'll try to make it last. By the way, did you and Sirius take those teaching jobs?"

"We did, indeed." said Remus. "I'll be professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts and Sirius will be professor of Transfiguration."

"Fantastic." Harry grinned as he picked up the gift from Sirius. It was a small, square box. He unwrapped it to reveal a gold pocket watch similar to the one Ron had received from his parents for his birthday. "Wow." He said, admiring it. He opened it and watched the planets moving around under the glass.

"It's traditional to give a wizard a pocket watch when he comes of age." said Sirius. "This one belonged to your father. I thought you might like to have it. It's old, but James took good care of it."

Harry hugged him. "Thanks, Sirius. I love it."

Sirius returned the embrace. "I'm glad."

A few hours later, Tonks left and returned with Hermione, who took her things straight upstairs. She returned moments later with a gift for Harry, which was a new Pocket Sneakoscope.

"I know Sirius got you a bigger one last year, but I thought you'd like something portable. It's more reliable that the one from Ron. I read that the Pocket Sneakoscopes wear out after a while, anyways, so you needed a new one."

"Thanks, Hermione." said Harry. He took it up to his room and set it on his desk.

Around three, all of the Weasleys arrived, except for Arthur. Molly muttered something about Arthur having to go to the Ministry as she joined Remus in the kitchen to help with the food.

Bill and Fleur, whose wedding was the next day, handed Harry a gift that turned out to be an enchanted razor. Fleur's father, Monsieur Delacour, who was staying at the Burrow along with his wife and younger daughter for the wedding, warned Harry to be very specific about what he wanted the razor to shave.

Charlie had been forced into a haircut by Molly, and was ruefully running his hand over his brutally short hair as he said hello. Percy greeted Harry with a hug. He looked happier than ever, and far less serious than when Harry had first met him.

Fred and George thrust a large box of the latest Weasley Wizard Wheezes products into Harry's arms. Harry then informed them of the water prank Tonks, Remus, and Sirius had pulled on him this morning, and the twins promised to help Harry plot for revenge.

Ron accompanied Harry upstairs, where Harry put his newest gifts away. He then gave Harry his gift. It was a book titled, "Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches."

"Ron, I've got a girlfriend, you know." Harry said.

"I know, but this book is gold." said Ron. "Wish I'd had a copy when I had to break up with Lavender. Fred and George gave me one, and I thought you'd find it useful."

Harry set the book down and smiled. "Thanks. Come on, let's go back down before they send a search party."

Ginny approached him the moment he set foot in the sitting room. They kissed, receiving cat calls from Fred and George. Ginny pulled away and gave the twins a threatening Mrs. Weasley-like glare. She then gave Harry a small gift. It was a framed moving photo of the Gryffindor team last year, winning the Quidditch Cup.

"Wow, this is brilliant!" He showed it to Ron.

"Good, they got my good side." said Ron.

"Which side is that?" asked Charlie. Everyone laughed.

"Colin took it last year and gave me a copy." said Ginny.

"He's got a good eye." said Hermione.

When Hagrid arrived, the party moved outside, where Bill and Charlie set up a few tables end-to-end. Mrs. Weasley and Remus came out with the food, and a large Snitch-shaped birthday cake, complete with fluttering wings.

Hagrid gave Harry a small, furry drawstring pouch. "Mokeskin. Hide anythin' in there an' no one but the owner can get it out. They're rare, them."

Soon after, Ted and Andromeda Tonks arrived. The only person they were waiting for was Arthur. Molly was just beginning to say they should start without him when a weasel Patronus entered the back garden and spoke in Arthur's voice.

"Minister of Magic coming with me."

"He's coming here?" said Remus. He glanced at Tonks.

"Keep calm, Remus." said Sirius. "You and Tonks run to the woods for a few minutes. I'll come get you when he's gone."

"I-I think I'll go with them." said Percy, following them.

Moments later, Arthur stepped out of Crystal Cottage, a little soot left in his hair, accompanied by Rufus Scrimgeour.

No one seemed happy to see him.

"Sorry to intrude," said Scrimgeour. "I can see I'm gate-crashing a party." He turned to Harry. "I require a private word with you, as well as with Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger, and Sirius Black and Andromeda Tonks."

Sirius led them to the sitting room, where Hermione, Ron and Harry took the couch. Sirius and Andromeda sat in armchairs on one side of them, and Scrimgeour took an armchair by himself on their other side.

"I am here for two reasons. The first being Albus Dumbledore's will." said Scrimgeour. "He has left each of you," he motioned to Harry, Ron and Hermione. "Something in his will."

"Dumbledore died over a month ago, and you're just now giving them their things?" Andromeda said. "The Decree for Justifiable Confiscation requires you to have strong evidence that the objects in question were dark magic. You had no right to withhold anything from these three."

Harry felt a strong respect towards Tonks' mother at that moment. He turned to Scrimgeour. "Well? Get on with it."

Scrimgeour read them the will, handing Ron Dumbledore's Deluminator, Hermione a book titled the Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Harry, to everyone's surprise, the first Snitch he'd ever caught.

Scrimgeour watched him for a moment as Harry studied the small glittering ball.

"Anything else?" asked Harry.

"Yes." said Scrimgeour. "Dumbledore also left you the Sword of Gryffindor. However, the sword was not Dumbledore's to give away. It is an artifact that belongs to the school."

With that said, he turned to Andromeda and Sirius.

"There is one more topic to be discussed."

"Yeah, we figured." said Sirius. "What do you want, Rufus?"

"I want nothing." said Scrimgeour. "However, the Ministry has legislated that all Gringotts vaults belonging to known Death Eaters should be seized. Unfortunately, law decrees that we cannot keep the vaults for more than twenty days, and, with help from the Gringotts goblins, ownership of those vaults are being passed to next of kin. Those without next of kin are being left to Gringotts itself."

"And what does that have to do with us?" asked Andromeda. "Neither of us are Death Eaters."

"No, but you are next of kin to Bellatrix Lestrange." said Scrimgeour. "Therefore, ownership of the vault passes to you."

"Me?" asked Andromeda, surprised. "I'm inheriting…"

"The vault of Bellatrix Lestrange." said Scrimgeour, holding out a key. "Be warned, however, that the Ministry cannot guarantee that Mrs. Lestrange will not have access to the vault. I suggest you do not tarry within it for very long. The Death Eaters have not been warned of this new development, but they have their ways of getting information, as you well know."

Andromeda took the key and stared at him.

"And now, I must be going." The Minister stood, and without another word, he left the cottage and headed off to the willow trees.

"Well, that was unexpected." said Sirius. "Why did he need me again?"

"I… This is incredible…" said Andromeda. "Do you know what this means, Sirius? I… I have something to leave for my daughter…"

"Yes, I can assure you the Lestrange's were very well-off." said Sirius. "You'll never have to work again."

"Will you come with me to visit it?" asked Andromeda.

Sirius looked taken aback. "Sure, I can. But I promise you, if I get hexed by some dark object in her vault, I will come back and haunt you."

Andromeda laughed and slipped the vault key into her pocket. "Now, what about that Snitch? All of those are strange things."

"Snitches have flesh memories." said Hermione. "They can recognize the first skin that touches them, which is always the Seeker that catches it."

"Really?" asked Harry. "And if this is the first Snitch I caught…" He popped the little ball into his mouth and spit it out. Five words appeared on the outside. "'I open at the close'. Wonder what that means."

"No clue." said Ron, flicking a nearby light on and off with his Deluminator.

"Stop that." said Hermione. Ron grinned sheepishly and stuffed the Deluminator back into his pocket.

"Well, we should rejoin the others. I'm sure Remus will want to come out of the woods." said Sirius.

And the five of them returned to the garden and called Remus, Tonks and Percy back to the tables.

Later that evening, Harry lay down in his bed, reading the words on the Snitch. "I open at the close." He still had no idea what that meant. He stuffed the tiny golden ball into the moleskin pouch Hagrid had given him, a slipped it into his night table drawer.

It was just one more thing he had to figure out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler alert: I could not, for the life of me, figure out what to do with Ron's deluminator in this story, because it goes in such a different direction than canon. However, it may prove useful in the sequel or an outtake of this story so I left it in.


	33. Wedding Bells

The next morning found Harry, Hermione, Tonks, Remus, and Sirius wearing dress robes once more. At the Burrow, Harry, Remus and Sirius joined the twins, Percy, and Ron. Their job was to show guests to their seats.

Bill and Fleur's wedding was much bigger than Remus and Tonks'. The guest list was longer and the decorations more immaculate. And from what Hermione had told him, Fleur's dress was far more detailed than Tonks'. Harry glanced at Remus, who didn't seem bothered by these things one bit. He looked genuinely happy, Harry thought.

Sirius greeted Nigel and his family happily, and led them to their seats on Bill's side. Fred and George each managed to swoop up some of Fleur's cousins and show them their seats. Remus kindly welcomed an elderly couple and helped them onto Fleur's side. Percy led Arthur's fellow Ministry wizard, Perkins. Harry showed Luna and her father, Xenophilius Lovegood, to their seats while Ron was stuck with his Auntie Muriel.

By the time Ron returned, Harry and the others had each showed at least six other parties to their seats, and Hagrid had broken a row of five chairs after misinterpreting Fred and George's directions to the large, magically reinforced chair in the back row.

"She's awful…" said Ron.

"Well, we're all grateful that you sacrificed yourself," said Percy. "Imagine if she'd spotted Harry!"

Everyone grimaced at the thought of that and Harry felt lucky the Lovegoods had been standing next to him, making him far less noticeable, when Muriel had walked by.

Hermione came hurrying towards them just then, dressed in a floaty, lilac-colored dress with matching high heels. Her hair was sleek and shiny.

"You look great!" said Ron.

"Always the tone of surprise." said Hermione, with a smile. "Your Great-Aunt Muriel doesn't agree. I just met her upstairs while she was giving Fleur the tiara. She said, 'Oh, dear, is this the Muggle-born?' and then, 'Bad posture and skinny ankles.'"

"Don't take it personally, she's rude to everyone." said Ron.

"You look vunderful."

They turned to see Viktor Krum, his eyes on Hermione and his hand holding out his invitation to Ron.

"Viktor!" cried Hermione. "I didn't know you were - goodness - it's lovely to see - how are you?"

"How come you're here?" Ron asked much too loudly, ignoring the invitation.

"Fleur invited me." said Viktor. He turned to Harry. "It is good to see you again, Harry Potter."

"Yeah, you too. Come on, I'll show you to your seat." Harry led Viktor away from Ron, who was steaming.

"Your friend is not pleased to see me." said Viktor.

"No, I suppose not."

The others hurried down the aisle then.

"Time to sit down." said Fred. "Or we're going to get run over by the bride."

They all took a seat in the second row, Harry between Ron and Sirius, and they watched as the ceremony began.

"Do you, William Arthur, take Fleur Isabelle…?"

In the front row, Mrs. Weasley and Madame Delacour were both sobbing quietly into scraps of lace.

"...then I declare you bonded for life."

Ten minutes later, Harry, Ron and Hermione had found a table and were watching Bill and Fleur take the first dance. More couples began to join them on the dance floor. As soon as Viktor sat down with them, Ron invited Hermione for a dance.

"Ah, they are together now?" asked Viktor.

"Sort of." said Harry.

"Who is that man over there?" Viktor pointed at a man garbed in yellow.

"That's Xenophilius Lovegood."

"You know him?"

"Well, no. I'm friends with his daughter, Luna. Why?"

"Because, if he vos not a guest of Fleur's, I vould duel him, here and now, for vearing that filthy sign upon his chest."

Harry looked at Lovegood. A silver, triangular eye gleamed back at him. "Why? What does it mean?"

"Grindelvald. That is the sign of Grindelvald." said Viktor.

"That's the dark wizard Dumbledore defeated."

"Exactly. He carved that sign into the wall of Durmstrang."

"Well, there's a chance that Mr. Lovegood doesn't know what it means. He and his daughter are… unusual. He probably picked it up somewhere and thought it was a cross section of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack or something…"

"The cross-section of a vot?"

"Well, I don't know what they are, but apparently he and his daughter go on holiday looking for them." Harry felt he was doing a bad job of explaining the Lovegoods.

Krum said nothing and for a few minutes they sat and watched the dancers. Harry found Sirius and Nigel waltzing together, and Remus and Tonks nearby, talking with Astrid, Nigel's wife.

"This girl is very nice-looking." said Viktor pointing to Ginny, who was dancing with Luna, both of them waving their arms as though batting away Wrackspurts.

"That's my girlfriend, Ginny." said Harry, protectively.

Viktor glanced at him. "Right… Vot is the point of being an international Quidditch player if all the good-looking girls are taken?"

And he strode off. Harry stood up and made his way across the dance floor to Ginny, and danced with her for the next couple songs.

When they grew tired, Harry and Ginny wandered off to find a place to sit. Harry grabbed them both drinks and they sat down to watch the dancers.

"My word, Harry Potter!" said an elderly man with a rather high-pitched, wheezy voice next to them. Harry turned to him, and shook the hand he was offered. "Elphias Doge, at your service. I thought of writing to you… after Dumbledore… the shock… and for you, I am sure…"

Doge's eyes suddenly filled with tears.

"Mr. Doge?" Harry recognized him suddenly. "I read the obituary you wrote for the Daily Prophet. I didn't realize you knew Dumbledore so well."

"As well as anyone." said Doge, dabbing his eyes with a napkin. "Certainly I knew him longest, if you don't count Aberforth - and somehow, people never do seem to count Aberforth."

"Speaking of the Daily Prophet… I don't know whether you saw, Mr. Doge, the interview Rita Skeeter gave about Dumbledore?"

"Oh yes, Harry, I saw it." said Doge, an angry color in his eyes. "That woman, or vulture might be a more accurate term, positively pestered me to talk to her. I am ashamed to say I became rather rude, called her an interfering trout, which resulted, as you may have seen, in aspersions cast upon my sanity."

"Rita Skeeter? Oh, I love her, always read her!" said Muriel, who was sitting down next to them. "Ginny, dear, get me a drink. I'm parched."

Ginny gave Harry an apologetic look and jumped up to do as she was told.

"Hello, Muriel," said Doge unenthusiastically. "Yes, we were just discussing-"

"That Rita Skeeter!" said Muriel. "You know she's written a biography about Dumbledore? I can't wait to read it, I must remember to place an order at Flourish and Blotts!"

Ginny returned then with a glass of champagne and handed it to Muriel, who took a large gulp from it. The old woman glanced between Doge and Harry. "There's no need to look like a pair of stuffed frogs! Before he became so respected and respectable and all that tosh, there were some mighty funny rumors about Albus!"

"Ill-informed sniping." said Doge, turning radish-colored.

"You would say that, Elphias." cackled Auntie Muriel. "I noticed how you skated over the sticky patches in that obituary of yours!"

"I'm sorry you think so." said Doge, more coldly still. "I assure you, I was writing from the heart."

"Oh, we all know you worshipped Dumbledore; I daresay you'll still think he was a saint even if it does turn out he did away with his Squib sister!"

"Muriel!" exclaimed Doge.

Harry and Ginny listened to the two of them arguing about Dumbledore and his past for several long minutes, trying to find a way to sneak away without either one noticing.

Hermione appeared out of the crowd and drew up a chair next to Ginny. "I simply can't dance anymore." she panted. "Ron's gone looking to find more butterbeers. It's a bit odd, I've just seen Viktor storming away from Luna's father, it looked like they'd been arguing." She dropped her voice. "Are you two okay?"

Before either of them could answer, something large and silver came falling through the canopy over the dance floor. Graceful and gleaming, the lynx landed lightly in the middle of the astonished dancers. Then the Patronus's mouth opened wide and it spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

For a moment nobody moved, but then people seemed to understand the message and loud cracks were heard as guests began Disapparating on the spot.

Harry, Hermione and Ginny jumped up, wands at the ready. Out of nowhere, Percy and Sirius appeared before them.

"Harry, Hermione, take my hand!" Sirius took hold of both of them.

"But what about-?" Harry glanced at Ginny.

"I've got Ginny!" Percy took Ginny by the hand and pulled her away. "Go! Both of you! We'll be fine."

Just before they Disapparated, Harry saw Percy deflecting a curse. People were screaming, and dark figures had appeared all around them.

Suddenly, Harry was standing on a doorstep of a very familiar place.

"Quick, inside." said Sirius, opening the door and rushing Harry and Hermione through it.

"Grimmauld Place?" asked Hermione. "What are we doing here?"

"And what about the others? The Weasleys and our friends?" asked Harry.

"They'll be fine." said Sirius. "All of the Weasleys are purebloods. The Death Eaters weren't after them. They were after us, particularly you, Harry."

"What about Remus and Tonks? And Nigel? His family?" asked Harry. He didn't need to ask why the Death Eaters were after him - that was obvious.

But Sirius didn't have to answer his first question, for Remus and Tonks appeared just then, carefully stepping over the threshold so as not to wake Sirius' mother.

Remus, Sirius, and Tonks both raised their wands at each other.

"What did you do the first summer you came to my house?" Remus asked Sirius.

"I blew up the toaster." said Sirius. "What were the first four lines of the poem James wrote for Lily our first year?"

"Roses are red, just like your hair, your eyes are green, and your face so fair." Remus replied. "She called it the worst poem ever."

"Well said." said Sirius. He turned to Tonks. "What color is Remus' favorite scarf?"

"Orange." said Tonks. "Although I've no clue why it's his favorite.

"It's warm and soft." said Remus.

Then the three turned to Harry and Hermione.

"Name the colors of the four petals of the Fibblywig." said Sirius to Hermione.

"That's a trick question." said Hermione. "The Fibblywig has five petals, one each of emerald green, ruby red, sapphire blue, amethyst violet, and golden yellow."

"Yeah, that's Hermione, all right." said Tonks.

"Harry," said Remus. "What creature was in the corner of my office the first time you visited me there?"

Harry thought for a moment. "A grindylow."

Everyone released a sigh of relief. They had decided that morning if anything happened, they had to answer a question to prove who they were. Harry and Hermione had not been told what questions would be asked, but he saw now that only he and Hermione could have answered them.

"Now that's settled, we need to get home." said Sirius.

A weasel Patronus slipped through the door just then, and spoke with Arthur's voice. "Family safe. Do not reply. We are being watched."

"Thank goodness." said Hermione.

"Okay, time to go." Sirius led them to the drawing room. "Kreacher!"

With a pop, Kreacher appeared before them. "Master has summoned me?" He asked much more politely than two years ago.

"I need your help, Kreacher." said Sirius. "We need to Apparate directly to Crystal Cottage, but only elf magic will get past the wards."

Kreacher bowed, his locket nearly touching the floor. "Kreacher will be more than happy to assist."

The five of them took hold of Kreacher and he Disapparated. A moment later, they were in Crystal Cottage's sitting room.

"Thank you, Kreacher." said Sirius, sounding a little surprised the house-elf had helped so easily. "You can go back to Hogwarts now."

"Of course." Kreacher bowed again and Disapparated.

"I'm so glad you and Kreacher are getting along now." said Hermione.

Sirius didn't answer, still unwilling to admit she was right. "I'm going to contact McGonagall."

"I'll get in touch with Nigel and the Willow." said Tonks. "To make sure they're okay."

"I'll get the radio on." said Remus.

"What do we need music for?" asked Sirius.

"It's not music, Sirius." said Remus, pulling an old Muggle radio off the mantle. "I was talking with Lee Jordan the other day. We realized if the Ministry was taken over, they'd also control the Daily Prophet and Wizarding Wireless Network, so we decided to come up with a way for the Order to communicate without interference. All you need is a radio and the correct password. I told him to do his first broadcast only after the Ministry was taken. I've already sent word to him with this coin. Protean Charm. Got the idea from you, Hermione."

Remus sat down and placed the radio in front of him on the coffee table. He pointed his wand at it.

"Fawkes." said Remus.

There was silence for a few moments, and then a crackle.

"Hello, and welcome to the first broadcast Phoenix Watch, the only magical news network that is not under the influence of You-Know-Who." said Lee Jordan's voice. "I'm River, and I bring very grave news to all the listeners out there. The Minister of Magic was killed forty-two minutes ago, and the Ministry has now been taken over by the followers of You-Know-Who. And before any of you start cursing You-Know-Who, we at Phoenix Watch must warn you not to say his name.

"Our sources tell us that You-Know-Who's name has been tabooed, and if you say it, it will reveal your location to You-Know-Who and his followers. Several families have already been attacked by Death Eaters and other followers of You-Know-Who through this method. Thankfully, most of them escaped alive.

"For today, we have nothing more to report. Tune in next time for more stories, tales, updates, and advice."

"Well, that's really useful." said Sirius. "How many people know about this?"

"We've been spreading the word." said Remus. "Most of the Order knows by now."

"And why didn't you tell us?" asked Tonks.

"I wasn't sure it was going to work." said Remus, unconvincingly.

Sirius and Tonks both walked away muttering about lame excuses.

Harry and Hermione sat down, feeling useless.

"Do you two know how to send messages using a Patronus?" asked Remus.

"I've read about it, and I think I understand how it works." said Hermione.

"We'll have to practice that later. For now, we need to think about our next move." said Remus. "Once we hear back from McGonagall, we'll know what's happening."

Tonks returned. "Good news. Willow and Nigel replied. They and their families are fine."

"Wonderful." said Remus.

When Sirius returned, he sat down next to Harry and took a deep breath. "McGonagall didn't say much, but there's an Order meeting in the morning at Hogwarts, which is still under Order control."

"Right, who is going to stay here with Harry and Hermione?" asked Tonks.

"What?" said Harry. "I'm not staying here! I'm going to the meeting. Hogwarts is plenty safe."

"And if Harry goes, I go." said Hermione loyally.

Remus sighed. "He's seventeen, Sirius."

"I know." Sirius turned to Harry. "I told you two years ago that once you're of age, you can join the Order. I'm not going back on my word."

Harry relaxed. He'd been ready to argue that one to the ground.

"And after the meeting, the two of us will go to Godric's Hollow."

Harry looked at him in surprise. Remus, Tonks and Hermione opened their mouths to argue.

"Don't worry, we'll go in disguise. And I'm taking Kreacher and Dobby." Sirius assured them. "They'll be invisible, and if anything goes wrong, they can get us out of there."

Harry could tell Hermione was trying to figure out how this task violated the house-elves rights, but fortunately did not find any problems.

Harry went upstairs to his room that night feeling strange. The wizarding world was in chaos at that very moment, but he felt very calm. He wondered how many people were fearing for their lives at that very moment, and how many more would suffer before he defeated Voldemort.

"Get some sleep, Prongslet." said his godfather from the doorway.

Harry looked at him from his chair under the window. "How can I sleep knowing he's out there, hurting people?"

Sirius crossed the room and sat on the bed in front of him. "You've got to stay strong. The weight of the world rests on your shoulders, and if you don't stay rested and strong, you'll crumble beneath it. All those people you're worried about… you can't protect them if you can't even stand up. Go to sleep. You've had a long day, and you'll have an even longer one tomorrow. Be sure to wear your ankh and have your Cloak on you at all times."

Sirius stood, and pulled Harry to his feet and into an embrace. "I love you."

"Love you too, Padfoot."


	34. Godric's Hollow

The Order meeting the next morning took place in an unused classroom on the fourth floor. Rows of chairs took the place of desks. Harry, Sirius, Hermione, Remus and Tonks sat down in the second row when they arrived. Harry looked around to see who was already there.

There was Kingsley Shacklebolt next to a lovely woman that Harry realized must be his wife. Elphias Doge sat in the back row. Other members sitting by themselves were Mad-Eye Moody, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher, Sturgis Podmore, and the barman from the Hog's Head. There were some people from Hogsmeade, some people Harry had seen in the Ministry the few times he'd been there, several Hogwarts professors, and Tonks' parents, Andromeda and Ted Tonks. Hagrid sat in an extra large chair in the back of the room.

The Weasleys, including Ginny, filed into the room and sat down behind them. Ron gave Harry and Hermione both hugs before sitting between Ginny, who smiled at Harry, and Percy, who was conversing with Bill. Willow and her brothers arrived moments later and took seats towards the back. When Nigel got there, he took a seat next to Sirius.

Several more people took seats around the room, until, finally, Minerva McGonagall came in. She glanced around the room at everyone there.

"Thank you all for coming. This is the first full Order meeting we've had since vacating Grimmauld Place." said McGonagall. "We have quite a few things to discuss. First and foremost, I am sure many of you are aware of Phoenix Watch, the radio program that one of our members started last night to share critical information and advice with people not allied with You-Know-Who.

"For those of you who did not tune in last night, you should know that You-Know-Who's name has been tabooed. Saying it will allow him and his followers to locate and attack you. For your own sake, do not be bold. We will be referring to him as You-Know-Who not out of fear, but out of wisdom. This is not the time to be foolish. I hope you all remember that.

"As you can probably tell, Hogwarts is still under Order control. This school is the last fortress that stands in You-Know-Who's way. I have already declared Hogwarts independent of the Ministry. Flitwick and I have sent letters to all the students' parents informing them of this. Any student is welcome to return on 1 September and classes will resume normally."

Harry knew this, as he and Hermione had received letters informing them of everything McGonagall had just said that very morning. They had also been chosen as Head Boy and Head Girl. Ron seemed a little annoyed by this, but eventually shrugged it off.

"Hogwarts will continue to serve as the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. We will continue strengthening the protective wards surrounding the school. Part of this protection will include the Fidelius Charm."

"The Fidelius Charm?" asked Elphias. "This castle is humongous. How do you plan on casting it on the entire castle and grounds?"

"This will not be the first time the Fidelius Charm was placed on the school." said McGonagall. "And as the Headmistress, I have the power to do it. I will also be the Secret Keeper. All of you will be receiving the location of Hogwarts from me later this week."

"What about the students? How will we inform them?" asked Sirius.

"I will ride the train this year, and inform students in person." said McGonagall. "King's Cross, both the Muggle and magic side, will have an Order guard to protect the students as they board the train. There will be guards on the train, and the guard from King's Cross will move to Hogsmeade once the train has departed. Both the train's guard and the Hogsmeade guard will escort the students to the school. I wish to continue our tradition of sending the first years across the lake." She paused for a moment. "Professor Flitwick, will you please explain our new refugee policy?"

Flitwick hopped off his chair in the front row and took McGonagall's place. He was hard to see but in the small, silent classroom, he was easy to hear.

"Hogwarts will be accepting refugees this year. All Order of the Phoenix members and refugees of the war may take up residence within the school." said Flitwick. "Any refugee who wishes to take refuge in Hogwarts must undergo a legilimency interview and Veritaserum interview. Both must be taken, or the refugee can and will be refused access to Hogwarts."

"What about children?" asked Nigel. "Do they have to do both as well?"

"Children over the age of six must take part in the veritaserum interview. All refugees, including children, will walk through an anti-enchantment shower. This will prevent Imperiused people from entering the school, as well as a number of other curses." Flitwick waited to see if anyone else had a question and then returned to his chair.

McGonagall stood again.

"Unless anyone has information they wish to share, I will adjourn this meeting."

Nobody moved for a moment, and then Tonks and Kingsley's wife both raised their hands.

"Yes, Tonks?" said McGonagall.

Tonks glanced at Remus who nodded, and then she turned back to the room. "Remus and I… are having a baby!"

There was a flurry of happy shouts and applause, people crying "Congratulations!" and Mrs. Weasley hugged Remus from behind.

"Wonderful news, Tonks! And Oria? What did you wish to say?" McGonagall said.

"Well, Kingsley and I are happy to tell you we are also having a baby." said Oria Shacklebolt.

"Both of you?" said Mrs. Weasley happily. "How wonderful!"

They were the last ones to leave the classroom, and as soon as the five of them were alone, Sirius pulled Remus into a bear hug.

"You're going to be a father!" He cried.

"I know…" said Remus, sounding a little nervous.

Sirius let go of him. "You don't sound excited."

"Remus is afraid he might be passing on the werewolf gene." said Tonks.

Sirius studied Remus' face. "We'll talk about that later. Right now, Harry and I need to get going."

Remus, Tonks, and Hermione left the school to go back to Crystal Cottage, while Harry and Sirius waited in the Entrance Hall for Kreacher and Dobby.

"Harry Potter, sir!"

The next second a house-elf wearing a tea cozy was hugging Harry's leg. Kreacher approached much more slowly, with dignity, but for once, they did not hear any muttering from him.

Sirius led the way down the path from the castle. The second they left the grounds, Dobby took hold of Harry's hand, and they Disapparated.

They reappeared within an old, decrepit room.

"Where are we?" asked Harry.

"The Hog's Head." said Sirius.

The bartender of the Hog's Head entered then. Harry thought something about him was strangely familiar.

"You're Aberforth!" Harry suddenly realized.

Aberforth Dumbledore gave him an annoyed look, and then pulled from his robes four vials, two full of a potion Harry knew well, and two containing strands of hair.

"Polyjuice Potion." He said. "And the hair of two Muggles."

"Thank you, Aberforth." said Sirius, taking a vial of potion and the hair labeled "35-year-old male, blonde, blue eyes."

Harry took the remaining hair labeled "16-year-old male, blonde, blue eyes."

"We'll be father and son. Rodney Gent and his son, Ralph, from Quebec." Sirius explained.

"Will we be Muggles?" asked Harry.

"No, we'll be wizards. On holiday in Great Britain." said Sirius. "Godric's Hollow is a popular magical tourist spot. One of the longest-standing wizard-Muggle settlements in Britain, and the home of Bathilda Bagshot, Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter, and Godric Gryffindor himself."

Aberforth harrumphed and left the room.

"Alright, Dobby, Kreacher, we'll meet you there." said Sirius. Both house-elves bowed and Disapparated. Sirius and Harry both took the Polyjuice Potion.

Harry watched as Sirius' inky black hair turned a golden blonde. It grew a few inches in length. His grey eyes gained color as they turned blue. He also shrank a couple inches. It seemed Rodney Gent was shorter than Sirius.

Harry's hair also turned blonde, and shorter. His green eyes turned blue and changed shape. Harry took off his glasses. Ralph Gent had perfect vision.

The now-blonde Sirius held out a hand. "Let's go, Ralph." His voice was slightly higher-pitched.

Harry laughed at the sound, surprising himself when he realized the Muggle he was impersonating was still going through puberty.

He took Sirius' hand and glared at the smirk on his "father's" face.

Seconds later, they were in a small village. It was very quaint, but Harry could feel magic in the air, something he'd grown accustomed to at Hogwarts and Crescent Valley.

"Lovely, isn't it?" asked the blonde Sirius.

"Very." Harry smiled at him.

Something nudged him then and Sirius stopped Harry from drawing his wand. "It's our companions." He muttered.

Then, taking Harry by the hand, he set off down the street. He didn't walk very slowly or very fast. Harry found pretending to be a tourist was very easy, as he was looking around, trying to take in everything about the place where he was born.

"Here we are." said Sirius. "The Potter house, where You-Know-Who was defeated by Harry Potter."

"Wow." said Harry.

They were standing in front of a wrought-iron gate, behind which was a two-story house that looked as though an explosion has recently occurred there. The garden was overgrown, but Harry could see that, although part of the roof and wall were missing on the second floor, the interior was untarnished.

"Why has no one fixed it up?" Harry asked quietly.

"The Ministry decided to place it under a preservation spell. Keep it as it was, until its true owner decided to return." said Sirius. "The house belongs to Harry Potter, and if he ever wants to live here again, no one will stop him."

Sirius threw an arm around him. "Now, on we go, Ralph. There's more to see in this little village."

Sirius led him to the center of the village, where a church, a pub, post office, and a few other small businesses surrounded a town square. In the center of the square, an obelisk rose out of the ground. Many names were carved into it, and Harry thought it must be a war memorial. Sirius pulled him towards it.

"All Muggles see is the obelisk, but if a magical person approached it…" said Sirius.

Suddenly, the obelisk turned into a statue of three people: a man with messy hair and glasses, a pretty young woman holding a content looking baby.

"The man and woman are James and Lily Potter." said Sirius in a slightly strained voice. Like Harry, he was trying not to cry. "The baby is Harry Potter. The wizarding population of Godric's Hollow commissioned this memorial after the end of the first British wizarding war."

Harry didn't say anything. They both studied the statue for a few minutes, and then Sirius led him to the other side of the square, where a graveyard stretched into the distance. Harry opened the kissing gate and the two of them walked along the path, reading the names as they went by.

"Here." said Sirius. "The graves of James and Lily Potter."

Harry looked at the gravestone. He read the names and dates and felt tears in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away and tried to continue their tourist charade.

"Dad, why didn't the baby die, too?" asked Harry.

"Dunno." Sirius lied. "That's what makes him the 'Boy Who Lived', isn't it, Ralph."

"And who're you?" asked a voice behind them.

Sirius and Harry turned around, alarmed. Two men, armed with wands were watching them suspiciously.

"Hello, there, gentlemen." said Sirius in greeted. "Rodney Gent, at your service. This is my son, Ralph."

"And what are you doing here?" asked one man. Harry recognized him as a Death Eater, but he didn't know his name.

"We're on holiday, seeing the sights of the old country. My boy and I are from Quebec, but my parents were born here in Britain." Sirius explained good-naturedly.

"Really?" said the Death Eater. "And why did you choose to come here at a time like this?"

"A time like what?" asked Sirius. "Summer? It's quite lovely this time of year. Ralph goes back to school soon, and this is the first time all summer I've had a break from work. I couldn't give up the chance to show my boy his roots."

Harry could tell that the Death Eaters didn't quite believe them. The Death Eater looked at Harry.

"And what school do you go to, boy?"

Harry froze. He only knew the name of three wizarding schools in the world, and all of them were in Europe. He supposed he had to hope that the Death Eaters didn't have much knowledge of Canada.

"Ah, you probably haven't heard of it… Riverden is very small. Only a hundred students…" said Harry.

"You're right, I've never heard of it." said the Death Eater.

"Pardon my asking," said Sirius. "But are you two locals?"

"No, we're looking for some people."

"Who?" asked Sirius.

"Harry Potter and Sirius Black, among others." said the Death Eater.

All four of them drew their wands.

"Sorry, Dolohov." said Sirius, blocking their foe's curses. "But that's not happening.

Harry suddenly felt something touch his arm and a second later, he was sitting on the floor of the sitting room in Crystal Cottage.

"Harry Potter is safe now. Dobby brought Harry Potter home."

"Thanks, Dobby." said Harry. "But where's Sirius?"

"Over here." said the couch. Sirius appeared from behind it, his blonde hair turning dark again, and blue eyes back to grey. "We're home, Remus."

Remus was sitting in a chair by the fire, looking at them over the book in his hands. "Trouble?"

"Yeah, we met Dolohov and Rowle in the cemetery." Sirius said, sitting down on the couch. Harry joined him.

"What gave you away?"

"I'm not sure. I think they were told to be suspicious of any visitors to Godric's Hollow." said Sirius. "Nice touch with the school name there, Harry. And don't worry, there are tons of smaller magical schools out there that no one has ever heard of, especially in the Americas."

Harry felt a little bit better. "Still, I don't think we should pretend to be the Gents again, or mention Riverden."

"Is that the personas you made up?" asked Remus.

"Yeah. I thought it was quite a good cover. We at least saw Lily and James' cottage." said Sirius.

"And what did you two decide?" asked Remus.

Harry and Sirius were both taken aback.

"Oh, come now," said Remus. "Did you two think I wasn't aware that you were considering moving out?"

"Come to think of it, it doesn't surprise me." said Sirius. "We didn't really have a chance to think about it, though."

"Tonks and I just want you to know you're more than welcome to stay here, for as long as you want." said Remus, lowering his book so they could see the genuine smile on his face. "This is your home, too."

Harry smiled, too, and then turned to Sirius. "I think we have more important things to think about than moving."

"I agree." said Sirius. "Crystal Cottage is as safe as you can get, and we have people we love here."

Remus' grin widened. "Tonks! They're staying!" He called upstairs.

"Yes! Party tonight!" They heard Tonks shout.

Remus, Sirius, and Harry all laughed.

"I think that's a great idea." said Remus, standing up. "We'll have a small party, just us. And Hermione, too."

"Of course, she's family." said Sirius.

Harry turned to the two house-elves, who'd been quiet since they arrived. "And Kreacher and Dobby, too!"

And they began to celebrate.


	35. Something Wicked This Way Comes

"What are you reading Hermione?" Harry asked a week later during breakfast. Hermione had her nose stuck in a very old book.

"It's a book about Horcruxes." said Hermione, not looking up as her eyes scanned the page.

"Where in the world did you find it?" asked Sirius.

"McGonagall found them in the Headmaster, excuse me, Headmistress' office, and gave them to me. There was a whole stack of them." Hermione explained, carefully turning the page.

"Dumbledore must have been reading them." said Remus.

"Please tell me you've found a way to destroy Horcruxes." said Tonks. "I get a bad feeling every time I walk past the locket in the study."

"Yes! I think I have! This book has two known ways to destroy Horcruxes. Fiendfyre and Basilisk-venom." said Hermione.

"Great… Anyone fancy a trip to the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Sirius.

"I don't think we'll have to go down there." said Hermione. "After all, Dumbledore destroyed a Horcrux without Basilisk venom."

"How d'you know that?" asked Tonks.

"Because you have to speak Parseltongue to get in." said Remus. "And Dumbledore wasn't a Parselmouth. Sure, there are ways to fake it, but I doubt he did."

"So he must have used Fiendfyre, then, right?" said Tonks.

"No, Fiendfyre is dark magic." said Sirius. "Dumbledore was against all forms of dark magic."

"So what did he do?" asked Tonks impatiently.

"He used the Sword of Gryffindor." said Hermione. "That's why he left it to Harry in his will."

"But how can a sword destroy a Horcrux?" asked Harry.

"Don't you see, Harry? The sword is Goblin-made!" said Hermione. "It absorbs only that which makes it stronger!"

"And five years ago, it came into contact with a Basilisk fang…" said Remus.

"It absorbed the Basilisk's venom!" cried Hermione.

"Brilliant, Hermione!" said Harry. "All we have to do is borrow the sword from McGonagall and destroy the locket!"

"Well done, Hermione." said Sirius standing up and grabbing his cloak. "Remus is right. You are the cleverest witch of your age."

Hermione looked quite pleased with herself.

"Are you leaving?" asked Tonks.

"Andromeda and I are going to Gringotts today. We want to see what's in Bellatrix's vault before she finds out we have access to it."

He said goodbye and left.

A few minutes later, while Harry and Hermione were washing the dishes, Ron appeared in their sitting room.

"Dobby has brought Harry Potter's Weazy!" said the house-elf.

"Thanks, Dobby." said Harry. "Have you had breakfast yet? Have a biscuit." He handed Dobby a biscuit from the plate on the counter.

"Dobby is honored that Harry Potter would share his food!" Dobby gobbled up the biscuit. "And now Dobby must return to Hogwarts." With a snap of his fingers, he was gone.

"Elf magic is brilliant." said Ron, taking a biscuit Hermione offered him. "But I hope You-Know-Who doesn't realize that."

"He thinks too lowly of house-elves to see the power they have." Hermione said in disgust. "And even if he did realize it, Kreacher and Dobby have placed wards around Crystal Cottage that prevents any house-elf besides the two of them from Apparating in or out of the valley."

"Ron, Hermione figured out a way to destroy Horcruxes." said Harry.

They quickly explained the conversation from breakfast.

"That's bloody brilliant!" said Ron, after finishing another biscuit.

"How do you do that?" asked Tonks, who was walking by. Her eyes were on the kitchen sink, where Hermione and Harry had enchanted the dishes to wash themselves.

"I'll teach you some spells, Tonks." Hermione promised.

"Thanks, but my mother's been trying to teach me since I was born. My dad's rubbish at cleaning, too." She left then, climbing up the stairs, and nearly tripping.

A few hours later, Sirius returned with Andromeda. They both set down a large bag of objects on the kitchen table.

"You took things from her vault?" asked Hermione. "Won't she notice?"

"She doesn't have the power to stop me. Gringotts has its own rules, and I was given the title of the vault under their own by-laws." said Andromeda. "I moved quite a few things to my own vault already. These things Sirius and I brought were objects of interest. We wanted to get a closer look."

Carefully, they took gold and silver objects from the bags and set them on the table. There were jewels and gems, pieces of armor and daggers, a tiny tiara and a gold cup. When it emerged from the bag, Harry felt a strange tingling in his scar.

"This looks familiar." Harry picked up the goblet and found a crest with a badger on it. "It's Hufflepuff's cup!"

"Really?" asked Andromeda. "Ted and Dora will love that. They're both from her house."

"No, it's a Horcrux!" said Harry. "Riddle stole this from a woman named Hepzibah Smith, and then murdered her."

"So that cup holds part of his soul?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I can feel it. This is definitely the fourth Horcrux." Harry assured them.

"Well that's good news and bad news." said Sirius.

"What's good news and bad news?" asked Tonks. She and Remus had come downstairs.

"Harry found another Horcrux." said Sirius. "But unfortunately, destroying it will mean destroying an artifact from the founder of your house."

"What?" asked Tonks.

"It's a cup that belonged to Hufflepuff." Her mother said. "You-Know-Who made it a Horcrux."

Tonks looked positively disgusted, and stormed away muttering dark words about You-Know-Who and where he should put his soul. Remus followed her in concern.

"Oh, I nearly forgot." said Sirius. "We stopped by Hogwarts and borrowed the sword from McGonagall. Now we can destroy both Horcruxes."

"Well, I'd better get going." said Andromeda. "Unless there's another Horcrux amongst the things."

"No, don't think so." said Harry.

Andromeda packed the objects into the bags again and left through the front door.

"Shall we get to work then?" said Hermione.

"We should get Remus and Tonks, too." said Harry.

"Right, you three take the sword." Sirius handed it to Hermione. "And get the locket. Take them out to the clearing where we play Quidditch. I'd prefer not to damage the cottage. I'll find the other two."

Sirius went outside to find Remus and Tonks, and Harry retrieved the locket from the hollowed book in the study. The three of them then went to the clearing in the woods behind Crystal Cottage.

"So who's going to do it?" asked Hermione when all six of them were there.

"To be honest…" said Harry. "I think it should be you and Ron. I destroyed the diary. So now it's your turn."

Ron took the sword and picked up the locket. "How do I do this?"

"I think I have to open it." said Harry. "Stand back."

Harry concentrated and spoke in Parseltongue. Suddenly the locket burst open, and a dark cloud rose from inside.

Ron, who was standing on the other side of the locket, toppled over, clutching the sword tightly in his hand.

"Hurry, Ron! Destroy it!" cried Hermione.

But Ron was staring up at the cloud with tears in his eyes, seeing something only he could see. Suddenly, he stood up and shouted angrily. "Shut up!" He swung the sword down and it collided with the locket.

The moment the cloud was gone, Hermione rushed forward.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine." said Ron. "Your turn." He handed the sword to her, and then picked up the broken locket, scowling at it.

"What did you see?" asked Harry when Hermione was far enough away.

"You and 'Mione…" said Ron. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Ron, I want you to know Hermione and I have never been involved in any way. We're like brother and sister." Harry said, realizing what Ron must have seen in those clouds. "Besides, you know I like…"

"Ginny, yeah." Ron's lips turned up in a slight smile. "Dunno what I was thinking."

They turned to watch as Hermione set Hufflepuff's cup on the ground. She raised the sword, and a loud, shrill ringing pierced the air. They all covered their ears in pain, unable to block the sound out.

"Hermione, hurry!" Harry shouted, but his voice was lost to the louder sound.

Hermione was doubled over, the sword lying next to her, tears streaming down her cheeks. Harry watched as she glanced at the cup and then the sword. In one swift move, she snatched the sword up and swiped at the shrieking cup, sending it flying.

The noise ceased and Ron ran to Hermione side. She was sobbing, and her ears bleeding. The others gathered around her, and Remus crouched before her, pointing his wand at her. He muttered an incantation, healing her eardrums. She looked up.

"Hermione, can you hear me?" Remus asked gently.

Hermione nodded and Ron pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to her.

Harry and Sirius found the cup lying at the base of a tree. It was scorched where the sword had struck it.

"You did it, Hermione." said Harry. "Look." He held the cup out to her. "Both of the Horcruxes are destroyed."

Hermione took the cup and she and Ron walked back to the cottage carrying them like badges of honor. Harry carried the sword. He was proud of his friends for overcoming these two challenges.

"I'm glad you let them do it." said Sirius as they walked side by side, a distance behind the others.

"Why?" asked Harry.

"Because it gave them a chance to prove themselves." said Sirius. "But you also proved how different you are from You-Know-Who. He takes all the glory for himself. You hate to stand in the spotlight. You're willing to step aside and let others succeed. You allow others to help you. Forgive me for sounding like Dumbledore, but you do those things because you can love. You love your friends, so you gave them a place beside you, not beneath you."

Harry didn't know what to say to that. He'd spent his entire childhood alone at the Dursleys. Most children would have found it very hard to trust others, but Harry had embraced friendship. He thought he was finally starting to understand what Dumbledore meant. It was a wonder that he could still love after all he'd been through. It truly was a strength, even though Voldemort saw it as a weakness.

By the time Harry and Sirius returned, Remus had tuned the radio to Phoenix Watch. Lee Jordan had already reiterated some of the information McGonagall had given the Order at the meeting the week before. Now he was giving them some shocking news.

"It has been confirmed that Lucius Malfoy and several other Death Eaters and followers of You-Know-Who have been released from Azkaban. No, they did not escape. They were released by the Ministry, on the premise of being wrongfully imprisoned. We at Phoenix Watch must warn you those Death Eaters were not wrongfully imprisoned. They have committed several atrocities, and this act of the Ministry only proves that it is under the control of You-Know-Who. And now to you, Rogue." River, or Lee Jordan, was saying.

"In other news, Hogwarts has officially declared itself independent of the Ministry." said a new voice.

"That's Angelina!" said Hermione.

Angelina, or Rogue, as she was called on the radio, continued. "Under the by-laws of the International Confederation of Wizards, Hogwarts is within its rights to do this. However, it will lose the funding and protection of the Ministry."

"What protection?" asked River.

"Good point, River." said Rogue. "Hogwarts will begin its new school year on 1 September. It has, as we said before, been taking in refugees and been placed under a Fidelius Charm. The Secret Keeper is unknown. Anybody who is not told the location of the school will not be able to see it. Students will be informed of its location so that they can enter the school. Refugees must undergo a screening to prove they are not spies. We were not given details for this, but all of these precautions are for the safety of the school and its inhabitants."

"Thank you, Rogue." said River. "That's it for today. Stay safe, everyone."

"So Angelina Johnson is helping?" Hermione asked. They were all sitting around the fire. Tonks was snuggled with Remus, and Hermione with Ron. Harry sat with Sirius, wishing Ginny was there.

"I believe she was a guest. Lee invites different people for each broadcast." said Remus.

"My parents have already moved to Hogwarts." said Tonks. "Mum told me the dungeons have all been converted into living quarters. It's cold, but still homey."

"Nigel's moved his family there, too. He believes Hogwarts is the safest place. And he's quit his job at the Ministry."

"So did I." said Tonks. "But Percy and Arthur are still there. For now, their pureblood status protects them."

"Who else has moved to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"Mad-Eye, Kingsley and his wife, Willow and her brothers…" Tonks said, counting on her fingers. "And I think Molly's considering it. But she won't leave the Burrow unless Percy and Arthur leave the Ministry."

"Fred and George are staying in Diagon Alley as long as they can. Bill and Fleur have placed a Fidelius Charm on their house, Shell Cottage." said Ron. "And Charlie's staying at the Burrow. He won't leave Mum alone at home while Dad and Percy are at work."

"I feel the same way." said Remus. "Which is why I think you should come with me to Hogwarts, Tonks. It'll be safer for you than being here all alone."

"Oh, fine. But only because Willow is there." Tonks said reluctantly.

"Look on the bright side," said Sirius. "We can continue the Duelling Club."

Tonks cheered right up at that thought.


	36. Return to Hogwarts

"Harry! Hurry up! We have to go!" Sirius called from the sitting room.

"I'm coming!" Harry replied, dashing down the stairs. For once, he didn't have to drag his trunk behind him. It floated down easily, along with Hedwig's cage, as Harry was now allowed to use magic outside Hogwarts.

"Where are Remus and Tonks?" asked Harry.

"Platform 9 ¾." said Sirius. "That's where I'll be going once you and Hermione are at Hogwarts."

Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny were the only students returning to Hogwarts that were not riding the train. Harry knew his presence on the train would only put the other students in danger. Hermione and Ron, being his best friends, and Ginny, being his girlfriend, would be in danger as well, whether Harry was there or not, especially Hermione, as she was already on the Undesirable list next to Harry, Sirius, Remus, and many other Order members.

So Hermione and Harry were being Apparated to Hogwarts by Kreacher, while Ron and Ginny were Apparated by Dobby (from the Burrow).

"Are you both ready?" asked Sirius.

Hermione and Harry nodded.

"Kreacher!"

The house-elf appeared before Sirius.

"The Master's godson and mu- godson's friend are ready?" asked Kreacher.

Sirius smiled at Kreacher's self-correction. "Yes, thank you, Kreacher."

Harry took hold of his trunk, and Hermione hers, then they took hands with Kreacher.

Sirius waved. "See you soon."

And then he and the sitting room were gone, replaced by Ron, Ginny, and Professor Flitwick's office.

"Welcome, Miss Granger, Mr. Potter." squeaked the Charms professor.

"Hello, Professor." They replied.

Ginny and Ron greeted them both with hugs. They hadn't seen each other since the Order meeting.

"Took you two long enough." said Ron.

"Harry was taking his time." Hermione said.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Thank you, Kreacher, Dobby." said Harry. The two house-elves bowed, momentarily glared at each other as they didn't get on very well, and then disappeared with a crack.

"Now, then." Flitwick cleared his throat. "You four can take your things up to your dorm. You'll find your lunch in the common room. Professor McGonagall has asked that you stay within Gryffindor Tower. She does not want your presence known. Very few people were told how you were getting to Hogwarts, Harry, even within the Order."

"Don't worry, Professor. We'll stay in the tower." Hermione promised.

"Until six o'clock." said Flitwick. "Then you will join your classmates as they sit down in the Great Hall. Pretend you were there the whole time, if you don't mind."

"We'll do our best." said Harry. They left then, heading straight for the tower.

"I heard Mum saying that McGonagall is telling all the students the location of Hogwarts on the train." said Ron once they were sitting by the fire in the common room. "She's got a bunch of spells on the train to keep any outsiders from trying to spy."

"It would be disastrous if anyone on the other side broke through the Fidelius Charm." said Hermione.

"That's true. But you know what we should be worrying about now?" asked Ginny. The others gave her questioning looks. "How we're going to enter the Great Hall. People will notice if we're coming from a different direction."

"We can use the cloak." said Harry. "We'll wait until we see the end of the crowd, then sneak up behind under the cloak. When no one is looking, we'll pull off the cloak and pretend we were there the whole time."

"I doubt anyone will have noticed our absence." said Hermione. "Maybe Neville and Luna."

"Are you kidding? I doubt anyone won't notice!" said Ron. "Think about it. Harry's the chosen one and Quidditch Captain, you and Harry are Head Girl and Boy, I'm a prefect, and Ginny and I are on the Quidditch team. We're not exactly low-key, are we?"

Even Hermione had to agree Ron was right. They considered what they would tell the others when asked where they'd been.

"Let's just be vague." Hermione said.

"Maybe pretend to be a little annoyed that they didn't notice us?" asked Ginny.

"We won't have any excuse for the Prefects." said Harry. "Hermione and I are in charge of them. They'll have noticed if Ron, Hermione and I weren't at the Prefects meeting this morning."

But it turned out the four had nothing to worry about. Neville and Luna had taken it upon themselves to use a Polyjuice Potion at McGonagall's request and pretended to be Harry and Hermione for the Prefects meeting, while Percy played Ron. With Remus' help, they'd also conjured up fake luggage that belonged to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny that they stashed in their compartment. Whenever somebody asked where they were, it was easy to say that Harry, Ron and Hermione were doing their rounds as Prefect and Heads, while Ginny, already a popular student, was visiting friends throughout the train.

Neville and Luna, who'd hung back from the rest of the students, were the only ones who noticed the four of them appearing at the back of the crowd, and immediately explained the cover they'd created.

Ron's jaw dropped and Hermione looked stunned.

"You two are absolutely brilliant." said Harry.

Luna smiled and Neville turned red. "It was nothing. I mean, it's not like we made the Polyjuice Potion. Professor Moody provided it."

"But how did they get our hair for the potion?" asked Hermione, inspecting her hair, and finding a lock that was slightly short than the rest. Seething, she sat down between Ron and Harry. Neville sat down across from them, with Seamus and Dean, and Ginny next to Harry.

They waved sadly as Luna went to the Ravenclaw table. Harry looked around. Three of the four tables were quite full, with space at the end for the anticipated new first years, but on the far side of the hall, Harry counted exactly fifteen heads at the Slytherin table. None of them were the children of Death Eaters, or any known followers of Voldemort.

"I'm surprised any of them showed up." said a dark-haired Gryffindor fourth year said coldly to his blonde friend.

"Hey, my brother's over there, remember? You'd better watch what you say!" said the blonde friend. She looked at Harry pleadingly. "Right? Just because they're in Slytherin doesn't mean they're evil!"

Harry swallowed the food in his mouth. "That's right." He said. "I mean, look at Professor Slughorn, and Willow Vale. They were both Slytherins, and neither of them are evil."

The blonde turned back to her friend with an I-told-you-so look on her face. The dark-haired boy rolled his eyes and turned away.

"Look, Harry!" Ron nudged him and pointed at the teacher table, where Sirius and Remus were both taking their seats next between Slughorn and what would be Professor Flitwick's chair. Professor McGonagall was standing in front of the seat at the center of the table, where Dumbledore had once sat. Her eyes were on the doors leading out to the Entrance Hall.

Sirius and Remus both caught sight of Harry and waved. Then the doors opened and Flitwick led in the new first years, all soaking wet and looking cold. Hagrid lumbered in behind them, also soaked and leaving a trail of water larger than all of the first years combined. When Hagrid stepped aside, they noticed three very annoyed, and soaked, Aurors: Tonks, Willow and Nigel.

McGonagall waved their wand and dried the students, Hagrid and Aurors, as well as the floor.

"Trouble on the lake?" she asked. The rest of the hall was silent.

"Seems the giant squid has a headache," grumbled Tonks. "And he's making giant waves with all his flailing."

"He's a she." said Hagrid.

"How can you even tell?!" asked an exasperated Nigel.

Most of the hall was giggling at this point. McGonagall gave them a bemused smile.

"Thank you, Aurors. You may return to your quarters to rest." said the Headmistress.

Nigel, Willow, and Tonks smiled gratefully and left, while Hagrid made his way to the teacher table, taking his place in a very large chair at the end, next to Professor Grubbly-Plank. Professor Flitwick picked up the Sorting Hat from the three-legged stool and held up a scroll with a list of names.

"Now, then, let the Sorting begin!"


	37. Professor Black

Ron was in a particularly bad mood the next morning as they received their course schedules.

"No Hogsmeade weekends!" He lamented, picking at his food.

"At least Quidditch isn't canceled." said Ginny. "And we've still got the Duelling Club."

"And they've made the Prefects' curfew earlier." Ron grumbled.

"It's for our own safety, Ron." said Hermione. "Once the war is over, we'll be allowed to go to Hogsmeade again."

"Hermione, this is our last year at Hogwarts." said Ron. "Do you really think the war will be over before we finish?"

He had a point, and even Hermione seemed a little gloomier.

"Hey, Harry." said Dean as he and Seamus walked by. "Any idea when you're hosting tryouts? You've got an opening for Chaser, right?"

Harry shrugged. "I'll have the date posted by the end of the week."

Dean and Seamus walked away looking a little annoyed. Harry glanced at Ginny.

"It won't bother me if you appoint Dean as Chaser." said Ginny as she checked her bag to make sure she had all the books she needed for her new N.E.W.T.s courses that day.

Harry wasn't convinced. "But you're hoping there will be someone better than him."

Ginny smiled evilly. "Not at all." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and headed off for her first class - Potions, which she was taking alongside Luna.

Harry leaned over to Hermione. "Keep an eye on Ginny at the tryouts."

"You think she might Confund Dean?" Hermione asked. "How can you think that of her?"

"Well, considering what happened last year with McLaggen…"

Hermione laughed nervously. "No idea what you mean."

They received their schedules, finally, and made their way to Transfiguration.

Sirius had not changed the decor very much in the Transfiguration classroom. When they entered, there were only three other students, all eyes curiously watching the desk.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron followed their gazes and smirked. There was a very large, very scruffy black dog napping on the desk, it's back turned to them, and it was snoring loudly.

Trying their best not to laugh, the trio sat down at a table nearest the front desk. The rest of the class filed in, some asking where the teacher was, and others taking seats with very confused expressions.

Finally, the dog sat up, stretched and yawned. It looked around at the half-frightened class, and hopped off the desk. In mid-air, the dog transformed, and Sirius Black stood straight and tall before them.

"Took you lot long enough to get here." He said, leaning against the desk he'd just been sleeping on. He smirked at the shocked expressions of most of his students. "You'd think after seven years you'd know how to get around."

"How did you do that?" asked Lavender Brown. Then she seemed to think about it and raised her hand.

"Oh, come now, you should have covered Animagi in third year." said Sirius, waving her hand away.

"You're an Animagus, Professor Black?" asked Dean.

"No, I'm a werewolf that can transform outside the full moon." Sirius said sarcastically.

The class laughed, including Dean.

"Oh, isn't it great that Professor Lupin is back?" asked Padma. "And he's our Head of House!"

"Indeed, it is." Sirius confirmed. "Now, let's get to our first lesson. Fortunately for me, you've only had one Transfiguration teacher, and she's quite organized."

The rest of the lesson was fantastic. Sirius proved to be just as talented as Remus was at keeping the students' interests. By the end of it, they all thought it was the best Transfiguration lesson they'd ever had. Professor McGonagall was great, but she could be very boring sometimes and just a little too stern.

They had Potions after lunch, and Professor Slughorn was very disappointed that Harry wasn't as talented as he'd seemed the year before. Harry wasn't worried, as Sirius has promised to tutor him and Ron.

Hermione was miffed by this, as she felt she could help them instead, but Harry reminded her she had her own studying to worry about. She was still taking more classes than anyone else in seventh year.

There was only one Slytherin in their year. Blaise Zabini, whose mother was a refugee in Hogwarts, did not speak to anyone in Potions, and took a table by himself, even when the other eight students offered him seats at their tables. Slughorn took pity on him, giving him extra attention that Zabini didn't seem to notice.

The next day they had Defense Against the Dark Arts, which everybody was excited about. Harry thought he even saw a ghost of a smile on Zabini's face when Remus greeted them all.

"Welcome back, Professor Lupin!" said the twins, Padma and Parvati. The rest of the class repeated the greeting.

"Thank you, it's wonderful to be back." said Remus, smiling at them all.

"Professor, is it true you're having a baby?" asked Lavender.

"You're going to be a father?" asked Seamus.

Remus laughed. "Yes, my wife and I are expecting." He raised a hand as the students started to ask questions. "We have a lesson to begin, remember? Now, I heard you all began nonverbal spells last year."

The classroom was suddenly silent. Remus glanced between their bitter expressions and smiled. "Not many fond memories in this classroom, are there?"

"No! Our best DADA teacher was you! The rest were all terrible or…" said Ernie. "...working for You-Know-Who…"

"We did nonverbal spells in other classes, too, but they're always so difficult." said Lavender.

"Well, as much as you probably hate them, I would like to review nonverbal spells, as they're one of the most useful forms of magic you'll ever use." said Remus. "Let's start with some target practice." With a wave of his wand, the desks were gone, replaced by two rows of wooden puppets holding fake wands, similar to the ones the D.A. practiced on two years ago.

Everyone was relieved that they weren't practicing on each other. Remus raised his wand at one of the puppets, and with an almost imperceptible flick, the puppet was blown to pieces. It immediately put itself back together ready to struck again. The class applauded, and Remus had them split into partners. Harry partnered with Neville, while Ron went with Hermione.

"Perhaps the greatest difference between verbal and nonverbal spells is the amount of concentration required." Remus explained. "With verbal spells, you need only speak the correct incantation and form the correct wand movements, but with nonverbal spells, you must visualize what you want to happen as well as think the incantation within your mind. But even more than that, you must communicate with your wand. Remember that the wand is an extension of yourself. It is more than just a piece of wood. You share a bond with your wand that nobody else can have with it. Once you realize this, once you and your wand become one, nonverbal spells, and indeed, other forms of difficult magic, will come easily to you."

Nobody had ever explained it quite like that, and all of the seventh years turned their focus from thinking the spells in their mind to trying to sense their wand.

Harry, who already had a very powerful bond with his wand, found it much easier to cast nonverbal spells suddenly. Remus walked around assisting students and handing out points to those who succeeded in nonverbal spells.

"No whispering, Mr. Finch-Fletchley." said the professor.

Justin, who was on the opposite side of the classroom from Remus, turned red.

By the end of the hour, everyone was close to mastering nonverbal spells. Remus awarded each house twenty points for their success.

The seventh year Gryffindors returned to the common room discussing the essays they'd been set so far. Remus had set them an interesting essay about how a witch or wizard's bond with their wand can affect spellcasting, and the day before, Sirius had set them an essay on transfiguring humans into objects. Slughorn's essay was less interesting, but not nearly as vicious as the essays Snape had set them.

Harry pulled out his two-way mirror that night and said his godfather's name to it.

Sirius appeared in the mirror moments later. "Hey, Prongslet, how's your first two days?"

"Fantastic." said Harry. "You and Remus are great teachers."

"You are, too, you know." said Sirius. "Are you continuing Duelling Club this year?"

"Of course I am." said Harry. "That and Quidditch."

"And what about your mission?" asked Sirius.

"The fifth Horcrux?"

"Yeah, any idea what it's supposed to be?"

"Dumbledore and I had some ideas but I'm going to need help. I was thinking of having a meeting with everyone who can help. Me, Hermione, Ron, you, Remus, Tonks, Ginny, Neville and Luna." said Harry. "And Nigel, too."

Sirius smiled at that. "I'm glad you trust him with this."

Harry smiled back. He'd gotten to know Nigel better over the summer. Nigel had been a Seeker in Hogwarts, something he and Harry bonded over.

"When do you want to have that meeting?" asked Sirius.

"Tomorrow night, if possible. In the Room of Requirement. We can use the D.A. headquarters." said Harry. "Right after dinner."

"Alright. I'll talk to Remus, Tonks and Nigel." said Sirius.

"I'll talk to Neville, Luna, and Ginny tomorrow." said Harry. "Ron and Hermione and I already talked about it."

"Just remember if we take too long, Remus and I will have to walk you back to your dorms." Sirius said. "There's still a curfew."

"Yeah, I know." said Harry. "Hey, where is Nigel?"

"In the the refugee wing." said Sirius. "I'm a teacher now, so I live in the room behind my office. He's with his family in the converted dungeons."

"I haven't seen any of the refugees." said Harry.

"Well, you've been in class and studying since you got here." said Sirius. "They don't eat in the Great Hall with us, but they are allowed to walk around the halls and grounds. Just pay attention as you walk to class tomorrow. You might see people or children who aren't students."

"Okay." Harry yawned. "Good night, Padfoot."

"Night, Prongslet."


	38. Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem

The next day, after dinner, Harry made his way to the Room of Requirement. Ron and Hermione were going to bring Neville, Ginny, and Luna soon after.

He was surprised to find somebody already there, staring at the wall where the doors to the Room of Requirement would appear.

"Isidor?" said Harry, surprised to see Willow's brother.

Isidor didn't turn his head. "Harry Potter."

"What are you doing way up here?" asked Harry.

"I've been having flashes since I got here." said Isidor. "My siblings and I are refugees. Everywhere I go, I see images in my mind. I'm sure they're memories, but the faces are too blurry and I can't remember the details."

"That must be frustrating." said Harry.

"It is. Nowhere has ever felt so familiar than Hogwarts." said Isidor. "Especially this spot here. I know it's some sort of secret door but… I can't remember how it works."

"I can help." said Harry. "I've been here a lot."

Isidor smiled. "No, thank you. I want to remember on my own."

"Okay." said Harry.

"I will take my leave, then." Isidor walked past Harry.

"Hey," said Harry, and Isidor stopped. "You know, if Hogwarts is so familiar to you, then that probably means you were a student here."

Isidor nodded. "I suppose it does."

Once Isidor had disappeared around the corner, Harry walked past the empty wall three times, thinking.

Then the doors to the D.A.'s headquarters opened and Harry entered. It looked just as he remembered. Harry sat down in a chair that hadn't been there before. It had been over a year since the D.A.'s last official meeting. The Duelling Club, which all the D.A. members had joined, had replaced the need for secrecy.

But it was the reason for the secret meetings that angered Harry the most. All of his memories from fifth year were pouring into his mind, something he'd pushed to the back of his mind. When Sirius had been freed, Harry had been allowed to move in with him and Remus. He'd been so happy, he'd never had a chance to reflect on everything that had happened in the months before.

Every horrible feeling Harry had felt in fifth year came flooding back and Harry couldn't stop his entire body from trembling.

Snape and his bloody lessons… Umbridge and her damn quill and torture… Voldemort using their connection to fool him… Dumbledore pretending he didn't exist…

Dumbledore… Dumbledore was gone. Harry felt lost, even though he knew what he had to do. He and his friends had already found and destroyed two Horcruxes. There were two more now. And he would find them. He'd make the man responsible for this… all of this… pay dearly. He was going to destroy every piece of soul Voldemort had.

Harry suddenly jumped up and raised his wand, slashing it at a wooden practice puppet. The puppet was blown apart with a huge explosion. Still trembling with anger and hot tears streaming down his cheeks, he continued slashing at the air, blowing up the entire line of practice puppets before they could regenerate themselves. He finally stopped when there were none left, breathing hard.

"Harry?"

He heard the voice behind him but didn't move.

"Harry."

The voice was closer now, right behind him. Harry felt arms wrap around him.

"Go outside and don't let anyone in." The person said to someone else in the room. "Tell them the meeting is canceled. We'll have another tomorrow night."

Harry heard receding footsteps, and then the arms around him tightened.

"Prongslet, please look at me."

Harry turned so he and his godfather were face to face. Sirius pulled him close and they collapsed into the chair Harry had vacated. Harry did not trust himself to speak, simply laying his head on Sirius' chest.

"I'm here, Prongslet." Sirius whispered. "I'll always be here."

It took a long while, but Harry finally found himself able to speak without his voice cracking. He told Sirius about his feelings over the last two years, and Sirius listened.

"I hate him." said Harry. "Even after learning about his past, I hate him."

"I know, Harry. So do I." said Sirius. "What You-Know-Who has done is inexcusable. No one has the right to murder and torture and destroy people's lives."

"And I hate Umbridge too… and Snape."

Sirius didn't immediately reply to that. "They've done terrible things, too."

"I'm glad you're here, Sirius." Harry whispered.

"So am I, Harry." said Sirius.

They talked for a long while after that, about many different things, from Harry's parents to the upcoming Quidditch tryouts.

"We should go, Prongslet." Sirius said. "You have class in the morning."

"I don't want to go back to the dorm." Harry said. He knew he sounded a little immature, but he didn't want to face Ron and Hermione.

"You can stay with me." Sirius said, throwing an arm over his godson and leading him out of the room.

"Who was with you earlier?" Harry asked, suddenly remembering the person Sirius had sent away.

"Nigel." said Sirius. Harry felt a little embarrassed, and Sirius must have sensed it. "Don't worry, all he saw was some very ferocious duel practice. He knows you have plenty of things to be angry about so he's not going to ask."

When they reached Sirius' office, they went to the very back of the room and through a door that led to a suite.

"I've never seen a teacher's room before." Harry said.

"That's a good thing…" Sirius muttered. "Here, you can borrow these." He passed him a set of pajamas, and the two of them changed and went to bed. Harry fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Harry awoke the next day when Sirius got up to shower in the private bathroom. He sat up and put his glasses on, and checked the clock.

It was 5 o'clock in the morning. Finding himself unable to fall back to sleep, he waited until Sirius finished his shower.

"You're up early." said Harry when the man returned, shirtless but wearing pants, still drying his hair with a towel.

"I haven't slept well since…"

"Azkaban?" Harry finished for him.

"Yeah. Normally I get up even earlier." Sirius opened a wardrobe and began picking out a shirt. "You can go back to bed. I'm just going to be in my office, preparing a lesson for my first years."

"I don't really feel like sleeping." Harry said.

"Well, you can use my shower, if you want. Do you have your Invisibility Cloak?"

Harry nodded and stood up.

"Good, you can use that to sneak back to your dorm." said Sirius, looking pointedly at the pajamas he'd given Harry, which were too long for him. "I don't have any clothes that would properly fit you."

Harry showered and put on his clothes from the night before, grabbed his bag and Cloak and found Sirius in his office, counting matchsticks for his first years to use.

"I'm gonna go now." Harry said. "I'll see you later."

Sirius nodded. "Love you, Prongslet."

"Love you, too, Padfoot." said Harry.

Three hours later, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were pestering him about the night before during breakfast. Harry gave them as few details as possible.

"Sirius and I just had a long talk and I stayed the night with him." He told them quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear.

"But what did you talk about?" asked Ron.

"Lots of stuff." Which was not a lie.

Hermione and Ron did not pressure him anymore, but they all noticed how quiet he was the rest of the day.

Once again Harry made it to the Room of Requirement before anyone else after dinner. He sat down in the same chair and felt his resolve strengthening. This was it. He could feel the final battle approaching. Once he destroyed the next Horcrux, only Nagini stood in his way.

He stood and raise his wand, concentrating. When Sirius and Nigel arrived, Harry was calmly disintegrating each of the wooden puppets one by one, mastering nonverbal spells.

"Nicely done." said Sirius, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Thanks." Harry replied, smiling. It was as though there was a fire within him that had previously been burning him because it was so wild, but now he had tamed it, and it was fueling his determination and resolve.

The others soon arrived and everyone took seats in a sitting area that the D.A. members had used for breaks.

"Alright," said Harry, and everyone gave him their attention. "Not all of you know why we're here."

"Well, we know you want our help…" said Neville.

"You're right, I do." said Harry. He then explained about the Horcruxes. "Dumbledore and I figured out that one of the remaining two was an object that belonged to Gryffindor or Ravenclaw."

"But more likely Ravenclaw, because the only known artifact of Gryffindor is the sword." said Hermione. "And considering it's destroying Horcruxes, I don't think it is one."

"Not to mention Dumbledore's been guarding it for… like fifty years or something." said Ron.

"If you're looking for something of Ravenclaw's," said Nigel. "Then there's really only one thing it could be. But to think You-Know-Who actually found it…"

"What is it?" asked Harry.

"Ravenclaw's lost diadem." said Luna.

"What's a diadem?" asked Ron, who was giving her a please-don't-let-this-be-something-to-do-with-Snorkacks look.

"It's a sort of crown or tiara." Nigel explained. "Rowena Ravenclaw was rumoured to have one that had special powers, making the wearer more clever and such. But it disappeared long ago."

"Great. How are we supposed to find it?" said Ron.

Even Hermione seemed perplexed.

"Even if we find the place where it was hidden, Riddle probably moved it…" said Harry.

"There is someone who might know where it is." said Luna.

They all turned to her.

"You don't really think she had anything to do with it?" said Nigel.

Ten minutes later, Luna and Nigel were leading Harry to the Grey Lady. After a few minutes of talking to her, something she was reluctant to do, she revealed herself to be Helena Ravenclaw. She told Harry about stealing the diadem from her mother and running away, about the Bloody Baron's involvement in hers and his deaths. After some coaxing, Harry learned that she'd told Tom Riddle the location of the diadem, how he'd besmirched her mother's prized possession.

"He must have hidden it somewhere in the castle on the day he asked for a job!" Harry realized. "But where…?"

Riddle needed a place to hide something, somewhere no one could ever find it. Somewhere most people didn't even know about.

The Chamber of Secrets? No, Riddle wouldn't dare try to enter there again. Not with the ghost of Myrtle or a suspicious Dumbledore there.

The forest? No, there were too many eyes there. Centaurs, Aragog, and a number of other creatures would see him.

The Whomping Willow didn't exist then…

A place to hide something… where no one would ever find it… Somewhere like that room he'd hidden the Half-Blood Prince's book in!

"The Room of Requirement!" Harry said. "He hid it in that room where Malfoy had the Vanishing Cabinet! Come on!"

He dashed back upstairs, Nigel and Luna at his heels, to the Room of Requirement. They entered the D.A.'s headquarters and Harry explained, in between breaths, what he had figured out. They cleared out of the room and Harry managed to open the place where all things are hidden.

Only Harry and Tonks had been inside before, and it suddenly seemed a lot bigger than before.

"Where are we supposed to start?" asked Ron as everyone gazed at the mountains of furniture and flocks of bats flying around.

"Well, I suppose we could start there." Tonks pointed to a collection of crowns and tiaras on their right.

They sifted through, none of them caring about the value of the priceless headpieces. Even Ron tossed them into the rejects pile without a second thought. They reached the end of the pile an hour later, but not a single one was a Horcrux. Each piece passed through Harry's hand but he didn't sense anything.

"It must be in here somewhere." said Sirius. "I can't think of anywhere else in the castle it could be."

"This could take years." said Ron.

"It could, but we have to keep trying." said Harry. "The sooner we find it, the sooner we can defeat him."

The others agreed, but everyone was tired, so they decided to call it a night.

"Any of us can return here during our free time, and we'll collect all of the diadem-like objects in here." said Nigel. "And whenever you get a chance, Harry, you can look through them to see if you sense the Horcrux."

It was a good plan that everybody liked. Outside the Room of Requirement, Nigel and Sirius escorted Luna back to Ravenclaw Tower, while Remus and Tonks took the other five.

Harry and the others went straight to bed upon returning to Gryffindor Tower. It had been a long night.


	39. Deathly Hallows

Harry visited the Room of Requirement as much as possible over the next several weeks. But with classes, Quidditch (and the first match against Slytherin coming up), his Head Boy duties and Duelling Club, he was already very busy. Thankfully, he had quite a bit of help. His friends found tons of crowns and tiaras, all beautiful in their own right, but none of them was the diadem.

He and Ron were finishing a Charms essay in the common room the day before Halloween when Hermione plopped herself in between them, catching both of them by surprise.

"Look at this!" said Hermione. "I've been translating the book Dumbledore gave me, but-"

"Translating?" asked Ron.

Hermione sighed. "It's written in ancient runes, Ron."

"So what's it about?" asked Ron.

"It's a whole bunch of children's stories called the Tales of Beedle the Bard."

"Beedle the Bard?" asked Ron excitedly. "Mum used to read those to us all the time!"

"I don't understand." said Harry. "Why would Dumbledore give you a book about children's stories?"

"I'm not sure." said Hermione. "But there is one rune I haven't been able to translate." She opened the book to what Harry guessed was the title page. "It's not in any rune dictionary I've ever read. I'm beginning to think it was penciled in."

Harry leaned over so he could see the rune she was pointing at. He immediately recognized the triangular eye.

"That's the symbol Xenophilius Lovegood was wearing at Bill and Fleur's wedding!" said Harry.

"Lovegood wearing a weird symbol?" asked Ron. "What a shocker."

Hermione and Harry gave him annoyed looks.

"If Lovegood was wearing it, then maybe he knows the meaning of it." said Hermione. "Let's ask Luna if she can convince him to come to Hogwarts."

"You need to talk to Luna's dad?"

They turned to see Neville behind them. He'd been walking by on his way to the dormitory.

"Yeah, we do." said Harry. "We need help solving this puzzle."

"That's going to be difficult." said Neville. "Because he's gone missing."

"Luna's dad is missing?" asked Ron, shocked. "Why didn't she tell us?"

"She didn't want to worry you." said Neville. "She told me you have plenty to worry about. And she also believes that you'll defeat You-Know-Who before anything bad happens to him."

Harry felt terrible. No matter how hard he tried, people were still getting hurt.

"But the Lovegoods are purebloods!" said Ron. "Why would the Death Eaters go after them?"

"Apparently, he's been publishing the true news in the Quibbler. 'Support Harry Potter' and stuff like that." Neville said. "They didn't take too kindly to that."

"That's…" Hermione didn't finish her sentence, tears forming in her eyes. "Poor Luna…"

"Please don't tell her I told you." said Neville. "She really didn't want you to know."

"Don't worry, Neville. We won't bother her." Harry assured him. "We'll figure this out some other way."

"You wouldn't happen to know this symbol, would you?" Hermione showed him the rune.

"No, I've never seen it before." said Neville. "But I think I might know someone who does."

After lunch that day, Neville led the trio down to the dungeons, where the refugees had taken up residence. He stopped in front of a small wooden door that was less dusty than the rest of the school, and knocked.

The door opened and Willow Vale stood before them. "Neville, Harry, Ron, Hermione! Nice to see you!"

"Hi, Willow." said Neville. "Can we talk to Theodore?"

"Of course!" She opened the door wider and let them inside.

The former dungeon was cold, but very cozy. It was small, but didn't feel cramped at all. There were two beds in one corner of the room, a sitting area set around a bowl of blue flames similar to what Hermione like conjure up, and tables with piles of books.

In the sitting area, both holding a book, were Theodore and Isidor Vale.

"Boys! You've got company." said Willow.

"Willow, please don't invite people into our room. You don't even live here." Theodore admonished. "Do come in, though, you four." He said kindly.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville sat down in the surprisingly comfortable chairs.

"Be nice to them, Theo." said Willow, opening the door to leave. "They're the best duellists we have."

With that, she left, leaving the four friends with her brothers. Theodore offered them tea although Isidor continued to read his book.

"So, what can I do for you?" asked Theodore, passing them each a cup of tea.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked to Neville.

"Professor Vale is an expert in Ancient Runes." Neville told them. "Willow told me."

"Please, call me Theodore. So you need help translating something?" asked Theodore.

"Yes, in this book." Hermione, who was sitting next to him, handed Theodore the book from Dumbledore.

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard?" Theodore read. "That's simple enough."

"Yes, the stories were quite easy to translate." said Hermione. "But there's a symbol here-" She opened the book to the title page. "I've no clue what it is."

Theodore studied the triangular eye. "How curious. I've never seen it before, either."

"Xenophilius Lovegood was wearing it as a necklace." Harry said. "The exact same symbol."

"And we'd ask him about it, but he's missing." Neville said.

"What a pity. Lovegood's eccentric, but I've always found our conversations interesting." said Theodore. "Don't you agree, Isidor?"

"I'm sorry for his daughter." said Isidor. "But I'm not very fond of him myself."

Theodore shrugged and showed him the triangle symbol. "Have you seen this before?"

Isidor's eyes did indeed show a light of recognition, something Harry hadn't seen before. Theodore must have noticed it, as well.

"What is it, Isidor?"

"The Deathly Hallows." said Isidor. "This symbol stands for the Deathly Hallows." Isidor stood, a hand on his head.

"What are the Deathly Hallows?" asked Ron.

"Have you ever heard the Tale of the Three Brothers?" asked Isidor, cradling his head in both hands now. "It's in the Tales of Beedle the Bard."

"Of course, it's right here." Hermione turned to the story and began to read it to them. "'There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight…'"

They listened as Hermione read the tale. "'And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life.'"

"But I still don't get it." said Ron as Hermione finished. "What does that have to do with the triangle?"

Isidor, who looked like he was in pain, grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and kneeled down at the coffee table. He drew a vertical line.

"The Elder Wand." he said. He drew a circle surrounding the line. "The Resurrection Stone." He drew a triangle around that. "And the Invisibility Cloak. A Cloak that, unlike common Cloaks, never wears out, even after centuries, nor does it tear or hold damage in any way."

"But isn't that just a story?" said Ron skeptically.

Isidor shook his head and flinched as the sudden movement seemed to hurt. "No." He said, sitting down on the couch. "The three brothers were the Peverell brothers… Ignotus was the owner of the Cloak… Agh!"

"Isidor, what's wrong?" Theodore was at his side in a moment.

"I remember…" said Isidor. "Theo, I remember… who I am…" Isidor suddenly stood up. "I need to see Minerva McGonagall."

"You remember?" cried Theodore. "How much? Isidor!"

But Isidor was already gone, running down the hallway.

"Thank you for your help." said Harry. "And tell Isidor thank you as well."

"Of course." said Theodore, staring at the open door. "Any time."

* * *

"That was unexpected." said Hermione. "I didn't know he'd lost his memory."

"He told me Hogwarts has felt very familiar to him." said Harry. "All he's known for the last sixteen years is his first name, and nothing else."

"That's so sad." said Hermione.

"So, about these Deathly Hallows…" said Ron. "The Cloak in the story must be Harry's Invisibility Cloak!"

"It must be. It was your father's, right Harry?" said Hermione.

"Yeah, Sirius told me it's a family heirloom." Harry said. "It's really old, and it hasn't worn out or anything."

"But what about the other two? The wand and the stone?" asked Neville.

Harry's scar hurt just then and suddenly, he was no longer seeing the halls of Hogwarts.

_He was entering a house, where an old man cowered in fear._

_"Where is it?" He asked in a voice that was not his. "Where is it Gregorovitch?"_

_"I-I don't have it! It was stolen! Years ago!" cried the wandmaker._

_Suddenly, Harry saw a vision. A handsome young man holding a wand, jumping out a window with it._

And then he was back in Hogwarts, breathing heavily with Hermione, Ron, and Neville surrounding him.

"He-He's looking for the wand… the Elder Wand…" said Harry. "He found Gregorovitch but someone stole the wand from him…"

"Gregorovitch had the Elder Wand?" asked Ron. "Who stole it from him?"

"I don't know. I didn't recognize him."

"Harry, you've got to shut him out." said Hermione. "Remember what Dumbledore-"

"Easy for you to say." snapped Harry.

No one spoke again as they headed for Defense Against the Dark Arts, their last class of the day. Remus' lesson was very enjoyable, and Harry found himself able to relax for a moment. During their break between Defense Against the Dark Arts and dinner, Harry let his mind wander to the Deathly Hallows.

Isidor had said that the Peverell brothers were the original owners of the Deathly Hallows. Harry was sure they hadn't actually met Death, but perhaps they'd created the Deathly Hallows themselves. Ignotus Peverell had been the owner of the Invisibility Cloak, and Harry knew that must mean the Potters had descended from him. If it was passed down from generation to generation, then Ignotus Peverell was his ancestor.

And, he realized, the Gaunts were, too. He remembered Marvolo's ring in the memories Dumbledore had shown him. The ring had the crest of the Peverell family within the stone…

"The stone!" Harry said aloud, surprising both Ron and Hermione. "I figured it out. The Resurrection Stone was in the ring horcrux."

"How do you know?" asked Hermione.

"Isidor said the Peverells were the owners of the Hallows, right?" When the other two nodded, he went on. "Marvolo, You-Know-Who's grandfather, was descended from the Peverell family. The ring had the Peverell family crest in it. It must have been the Resurrection Stone."

"Harry, there's no such thing as the Resurrection Stone." said Hermione.

But Ron seemed to be on Harry's side. "If Dumbledore destroyed the ring, do you think the stone still works?"

Hermione sighed exasperatedly. "Even if it's true… even if it still works… what good would it do us? We don't even know what Dumbledore did with the stone, and I doubt Professor McGonagall will allow us to search her office."

Harry thought about it. The stone was small, even smaller than the Philosopher's Stone, so it would be easy to hide.

"The snitch!" said Harry. "He hid it in my snitch!"

"But why would he do that?" Hermione said.

"I'm not sure…" Harry said.

"Great, so we solved two of our three puzzles." said Ron. Harry and Hermione gave him questioning looks. "We know why Dumbledore left you the book now, and what's hidden in Harry's snitch. Now can somebody please help me figure out," He pulled out the Deluminator. "What I'm supposed to do with this?"

"Maybe… it's to see in the dark?" offered Harry.

"What's Lumos for?" asked Ron.

"It could be to put out the lights." Hermione said.

"So Dumbledore predicted I'd need to put out some lights. Surely I can turn out lights the old-fashioned way…"

Neither of them had a satisfying answer for him. Ron stared at the Deluminator, his eyes nearly boring a hole through it.

"I honestly have no idea what I should do with it." said Ron.

"You'll figure it out eventually." said Hermione. "Dumbledore wouldn't have given you something useless."

"S'pose you're right." Ron reluctantly agreed. He put the Deluminator back in his pocket and pulled his Transfiguration homework towards him.

Harry sighed, knowing neither of his friends wanted to talk about the Deathly Hallows anymore. He had a feeling Hermione was a bit disappointed, thinking the book, snitch, and Deluminator would amount to more than a trio of objects that wouldn't help them defeat Voldemort.

Harry, too, slid his Potions textbook, which was still a hand-me-down from Remus as he wasn't exactly welcome in Diagon Alley, towards him and set to work again.


	40. Lost and Found

The day after Halloween found Harry and Ginny alone together for the first time since the summer. Both of them had very busy schedules and rarely found a moment together, let alone with no one else around.

They spent the afternoon talking and laughing, aimlessly wandering the castle. If it weren't for the stormy weather, they'd be out on the grounds, perhaps relaxing under a tree.

Hermione and Ron, Harry knew, were also spending the afternoon together. Ron had asked Hermione to be his girlfriend during the Halloween dinner the night before, as it was their sixth year anniversary since he and Ron had saved her from the troll, and they'd become friends. Harry was quite impressed with Ron. He had used Wingardium Leviosa to levitate a scroll over Hermione's cake, which contained a poem titled Swish and Flick, written by Ron himself.

Hermione had, of course, loved it and, with eyes full of happy tears, had said yes. Ron looked so happy you'd think she'd agreed to marry him, which Harry thought was inevitable anyways.

"How did we get here?" asked Ginny suddenly.

They were standing in front of the Room of Requirement.

Harry shrugged. "Want to go in?"

"Sure."

They opened the Room of Lost Things and walked a ways down the alleys that had been formed by the mountains of objects.

"So this was the Vanishing Cabinet Malfoy used?" asked Ginny.

Harry looked, noticing the cabinet that Tonks had studied months ago when he was hiding the Half-Blood Prince's book. It was now damaged beyond repair, blown to pieces, probably the courtesy of someone in the Order.

"Yeah, that's it." said Harry, glancing around to see that the tiara-like object and wig he'd used to mark where he'd left the book was still there. He walked over to it and picked up the headpiece.

The moment it touched his hand, he sensed it. This was it. Ravenclaw's lost diadem. The Horcrux.

"Ginny, I found it!" He cried, holding the diadem up so she could see.

"The Horcrux?" Ginny walked over for a closer look, but she did not reach out to touch the diadem, as though fearing it might possess her as the diary had five years ago. "You're sure this is it?"

"Positive." said Harry. "I can feel it."

"Then let's take it up to McGonagall's office, right now!"

They dashed out of the Room of Lost Things and straight to the Headmistress' office, where they stopped in front of the gargoyle statue.

"We don't know the password." said Harry.

"It's 'clarity.'" said a voice behind them.

Isidor stood behind them. Harry looked at his eyes again, and instead of the empty sadness that he'd seen before, he saw a mixture of emotions. He couldn't quite interpret them.

"Isidor! You got your memory back, didn't you?" Harry asked.

"Indeed." Was all he got in response. "Did the two of you have an appointment with Minerva?"

"No, but we have to see her right away!" said Ginny fiercely.

Isidor's eyebrows rose slightly in surprise, or was it recognition?

"Very well," he said. "'Clarity.'"

The gargoyle hopped aside and Harry and Ginny raced up the stairs, not noticing Isidor following much more slowly behind them.

Harry knocked and heard McGonagall say, "Enter."

They did.

"Harry, Ginny, what are you two doing up here?" She asked as they tried to catch their breath. "Is something wrong?"

Harry held up the diadem. "We found… the fifth… Horcrux." He said in between breaths.

"You have indeed?" asked the Headmistress. She walked over to study the diadem.

"Yes." said Harry. "And we need to destroy it."

"Very well." She opened the glass case near her desk and removed the sword from it. She handed it to Harry.

"You must find a place to destroy the Horcrux without damaging anything. Perhaps the Room of Requirement can help." said Professor McGonagall.

"Thank you, Professor."

"Bring it back when you're done." she said needlessly. "By the way, did you happen to see Isidor on your way here?"

"I'm right here." said the dark-haired man as he reached the top of the stairs.

"Very good, please come in." McGonagall said. "Good luck, Harry, Ginny."

They returned to the Room of Requirement, where Harry walked past the wall three times thinking, I need a safe place to destroy the Horcrux.

A different door than usual appeared and Harry and Ginny entered. It was a huge, cavernous, dome-shaped room with nothing adorning the walls. The walked until they stood in the very center, where Harry set the diadem.

Ginny held out the sword to him, but he declined.

"I think you should destroy it." said Harry.

"Why?" asked Ginny. "Hermione and Ron destroyed the last two. Isn't it your turn?"

"I destroyed the diary." said Harry. He saw something flash across Ginny's face. But it disappeared in an instant. "Dumbledore destroyed the ring, Ron the locket, Hermione the cup, and I think you should destroy the diadem."

"Why me?"

"Because I know you're strong." Harry said, taking her hand. "And I know you hate yourself for allowing that piece of Tom Riddle to possess you."

Ginny looked deep in thought. "You're right. I'm angry with myself still." She stared hard at the diadem horcrux. "I know I act tough but every time I remember what he did to me, I feel weak."

"But you're not." said Harry.

"No, I'm not." Ginny said determinedly. Her grip tightened on the sword and she took a step closer to the horcrux. She quickly raised the sword with both hands and struck the diadem. It sounded like an explosion.

When the dust cleared, they saw that the ground had cracked underneath the diadem, which had been split in half by Ginny's strike.

Harry approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to him, smiling, and tackled him in a hug, thankfully dropping the sword in the process.

"I knew you could do it." He said.

* * *

"So that's it, then." said Ron an hour later. Harry had called a meeting of everyone who was helping search for the Horcrux (Neville had dubbed them the Horcrux Committee). "All that's left is the snake."

"Yeah, and we have to kill it before Riddle can be killed." said Harry.

"Well, that's not going to be easy." said Tonks. "Even if we wait for him to come to us, we don't know if we'll be able to get to Nagini easily."

Harry had to agree with her. "I think our greatest problem will be if he finds out we've destroyed all his other horcruxes. He'll keep her close, under some sort of protection that makes it near impossible to kill her."

"So we don't have a plan." Neville said blatantly.

"Pretty much." said Sirius.

Luna, Harry noticed, was especially quiet. She hadn't said much since her father had disappeared, although Harry wasn't supposed to know about that.

"We know he's looking for the Elder Wand…" said Remus thoughtfully. "We can assume that once he has it, he'll feel ready to face Harry again."

"So we just wait until he's found the most powerful wand in existence." said Ron, earning an eye roll from Hermione, who was still skeptical about the Elder Wand.

"That's really all we can do." said Harry. "We don't know exactly where he is. My guess is he's not even with his Death Eaters. He's letting them wreak havoc while he searches for the wand."

"Well, then, I guess we'll just have to be ready when he gets here." said Nigel. "We'll continue raising the defenses of the castle and practice our duelling."

"I suppose there's nothing left to do, is there?" asked Sirius. "With the Horcrux hunt, I mean."

"No, nothing to do but wait." said Harry.

* * *

And so the days went on. The Gryffindors won their first match against Slytherin, although they felt a little bad for it, since there were only twenty-five Slytherins, ten of them being first years. None of the previous year's Slytherin team had returned, so all of the players were rookies.

For once the Gryffindors didn't have a celebratory party that night. They did stay up and talk about the game for a long while, but Harry retired early, exhausted from the game. He was, however, glad that he wasn't in the hospital wing for once.

__

_He was making his way through a large castle. He found himself in a corridor lined with doors on either side. Each door had a window. As he passed each window, he saw that they were empty. At the very end of the hall was a door by itself. He raised his wand and it opened._

_Inside was an old, decrepit man who reeked of his own filth. The man smiled crookedly at him, as though knowing why he was there._

_"Grindelwald." He said in a raspy voice._

_"Haven't had a visitor in years." said the prisoner, Grindelwald. "I know who you are."_

_"That is immaterial." He replied. "Do you know what I seek?"_

_"Oh, yes." said Grindelwald. "The Elder Wand. I lost that many years ago."_

_"To whom?"_

_"I think you know." Grindelwald laughed._

_He suddenly had an image of a familiar-looking castle. And then he was back in the prison cell with Grindelwald._

_Grindelwald cackled. "Figured it out, have you?"_

_"Yes." He replied. "And now I have no need of you." He raised his wand at the prisoner, who began to laugh maniacally. "Avada Kedavra!"  
_

Harry bolted upright in his bed, his pajamas soaked with sweat. He jumped out of bed and straight to the one next to his.

"Ron! Ron, wake up!"

"Wha-? Harry, do you know what time it is?"

"He's coming, Ron. I have to go see Professor McGonagall." said Harry.

"Wait, what?" Ron was now fully awake.

Harry looked him straight in the eye. "He's coming, Ron. You-Know-Who is coming to Hogwarts."


	41. Be Prepared

"How soon will he be here?"

"What about the underage students and the refugees?"

"How big is his army?"

McGonagall held up her hand and the room, full of Order members, was silent. She had called an early morning meeting in the Room of Requirement as soon as Harry, with Sirius' help, had told her about his dream. Every Order member was there, even those who were posted outside of Hogwarts.

"Based on the intel we've collected, I believe we have at least a two-day's head start." she said. "We have time to evacuate the students and refugees and prepare for the battle."

"You think there will be a battle?" asked a wizard at a table in the back. They were all sitting in groups at rectangular tables. Harry, Ron, Hermione were sitting with Sirius, Remus, and Tonks at the front. Ginny was sitting with Neville and Luna behind them.

"I am sure." said McGonagall. "You-Know-Who would not approach the school if he were not prepared to fight. Our sources tell us he has discovered something hidden here in the school, and will stop at nothing to retrieve it. He is gathering his army as we speak."

"Before we prepare for the battle, we must find a way to evacuate the school stealthily." said McGonagall. "I do not want any scouts of You-Know-Who's attacking the evacuees as they make their way to Hogsmeade."

"There are seven secret passages out of Hogwarts." said Sirius. "Three of them lead to Hogsmeade, but they're all very small. We wouldn't be able to efficiently evacuate the school through them."

"We must think of a way before I gather all of the students and refugees to inform them of these events." said McGonagall.

"We shouldn't evacuate until the last minute possible." said Slughorn. "We won't be able to provide much protection once they are on the Hogwarts Express. If we evacuate them closer to when the army arrives, then You-Know-Who's followers won't have time to attack or harm them. They will be focused on the school."

"I agree, Professor Slughorn." said McGonagall. "Evacuating too soon will put them in danger, but so will evacuating too late."

"What if we used the Room of Requirement?" asked Neville. They all turned to him, surprised. "It can do almost anything, right? Surely it can create a passageway large enough for hundreds of people to pass through and take them straight to Hogsmeade Station."

"That just might work, if it can be done." said McGonagall. "Mr. Longbottom, you will have the task of finding a way to evacuate through the Room of Requirement. The D.A. has used this room more than anyone else, and you all seem to know how it works."

Neville nodded, looking slightly embarrassed, but thrilled he was of use.

McGonagall turned back to the room. "Heads of Houses, when I give the signal, you will lead your students to the Great Hall. Call on your Prefects to assist you. Aurors, you will lead all of the refugees to the Great Hall. There, I will inform everyone of the approaching battle. They will be given one day to pack, and tomorrow, we will, if all goes well, gather them in the Room of Requirement, where they will wait for the last possible moment to leave and go straight to Hogsmeade Station."

Nobody argued with her, as it was the best plan anyone could come up with.

"As for the rest of you, we have already discussed our strategy in case of a battle at Hogwarts. You know where you should be, and what you should do. There may be many students of age and refugees who wish to stay and fight, and they will be stationed throughout the school as well."

She waited a moment to see if there were any questions.

"You have your orders. Dismissed." She said, very militaristic.

There was a scraping of chairs as everyone began to leave. McGonagall approached Harry's table.

"These next few days will be long." she said. The only ones left were Harry and the D.A., Sirius, Remus and Tonks. "But I hope you all have a plan to destroy Nagini."

Harry exchanged a look with Hermione and Ron. Then he looked at McGonagall.

"We need the Sword of Gryffindor, but all we can do is hope for an opportunity to kill Nagini." said Harry. "If we don't kill her first, we won't be able to kill Riddle."

"Very well." said McGonagall. "We must keep our guard up at all times."

"Where should we be?" asked Hermione. "Everyone else has something to do, but we don't."

"The three of you must retrieve the sword of Gryffindor from my office. Your job is to plan a way to kill the snake." said McGonagall.

"And what about me and Luna?" asked Ginny. "We want to help, too."

"I am sorry, girls, but the two of you are both underage." said McGonagall. "You will have to discuss it with your mother, Ginny. And Luna, Professor Flitwick is your Head of House. You can both try to convince them to allow you to stay, but if it were up to me, you'd both be on the train."

With that, she swept out of the room. Ginny stormed out after her to find her mother, and Luna followed, looking annoyed.

Remus turned to his wife. "Dora, can I talk to you privately?"

Tonks' face said she knew exactly what Remus wanted to talk about, and she reluctantly followed him out of the room.

"Um… Do you think we could all leave?" asked Neville. "I need the Room of Requirement empty if I'm going to try and find a way to evacuate everyone through it."

"Right. Sorry." said Harry. He, Hermione, Ron and Sirius left then, with Neville right behind.

In the corridor, the door disappeared.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

"But, Mum-"

"GINNY, YOU WILL BE ON THAT TRAIN WHEN IT LEAVES. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

"I CAN FIGHT, MUM! WHY WON'T YOU GIVE ME A BLOODY CHANCE?!"

The four of them left Neville to his mission and followed the shouting voices to an unused classroom nearby. Both Ginny and Molly's faces were as red as their hair, although Ginny's was flooded with tears.

"RON AND HARRY ARE FIGHTING! HERMIONE IS FIGHTING! I'M JUST AS GOOD AS THEY ARE!" Ginny was shouting.

"Ron, Harry and Hermione are all of age. And if they weren't, I guarantee Ron would be on the train with you. I can't say the same for Harry or Hermione, since they aren't my children." said Molly. "You're still sixteen, Ginny. Lots of underage students will want to stay and fight, and all of them are getting on the train."

"It's not fair." Ginny sobbed.

"Ginny, dear, listen to me." Arthur said from behind his wife. "You are a talented witch, and fierce in battle. You fought at the Battle of the Astronomy Tower just as bravely as anyone else." He took his daughter's hand. "And that is why you need to be on that train. The people who are leaving need protection, and we can't spare many wands. But you and Luna and all the other D.A. members who will be on that train can guard them. That is where you should be, where you need to be."

Ginny's brow furrowed as though she were thinking. Finally, her face relaxed. "Okay."

Molly and Arthur sighed in relief. And Ginny embraced them both. When she turned around, she noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione. She quickly wiped away her remaining tears, and gave them each a hug. Harry received a kiss on the cheek.

And then she left, maybe to pack or find Luna. Harry was glad Ginny was going on the train. She would be safe. He didn't think Voldemort would attack it. Harry and the Elder Wand were much more important than some scared little kids and their parents and grandparents. They would be easy to conquer if Voldemort had the Elder Wand and killed Harry.

Remus joined them as they made their way to the Great Hall. "Tonks is taking the train as well." He told them. "It was difficult to convince her, but she finally agreed to go."

"I'm glad." said Sirius. "She shouldn't be fighting while she's pregnant."

"She doesn't want me to stay." said Remus, with a pained expression. "She doesn't want our child to be fatherless."

For a moment, nobody said anything. Then Hermione spoke.

"Remus, you're fighting to give your child a better life." she said. "Even if you didn't make it, he'd grow up knowing you were a hero."

Remus gave her a small smile.

"And Tonks knows you're a great duellist." said Sirius. "She's just upset that she's leaving and you're staying. I know she believes in you."

"Thank you." said Remus. "All of you."

Just then, Neville barrelled past them, shouting. "I did it! I figured it out!"

"That was fast." said Sirius.

"But that's a good thing." said Remus. "McGonagall can call the school to the Great Hall and explain the circumstances. Everyone will have more time to prepare."

"Well, you'd better get to Gryffindor Tower then, since you're Head of Gryffindor House." said Sirius. "She'll be giving the signal soon."

Remus turned around and went the other direction back upstairs.

"And I'd better get to my station." said Sirius, checking his pocket watch. "The sun won't come up for another hour."

He turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Promise me you three will be careful."

"We'll try." said Harry. "But our mission isn't the easiest one."

Sirius pulled him into a tight embrace. "No, it's the hardest."

"I love you, Padfoot." Harry whispered.

"Love you, too, Prongslet." Sirius said. Then he released him and left.

Harry turned to his friends. "Let's go get the sword."

Harry, Ron and Hermione dashed down the stairs to the Headmistress' office. Stopping in front of the gargoyle statue, they exchanged glances.

"What's the password?" Hermione asked.

"Why did she send us here without the password?" asked Ron, frustrated.

Harry looked at the gargoyle. "Can we go up?"

The gargoyle sighed exasperatedly and hopped aside, grumbling about how peaceful his life had been before the three of them started Hogwarts.

Ron opened his mouth to retort but Hermione dragged him up the stairs before he said anything.

In the circular office, Harry went straight to the glass cabinet and pulled out the sword.

"Alright, let's go." said Harry.

"Exactly how are we going to do this?" asked Ron.

"I have no idea." admitted Harry.

"Oh, brilliant, that makes me feel so much better." said Ron.

"Ron, when have any of our plans actually worked?" asked Hermione.

"Let's just go to the Great Hall for the meeting." said Harry.

By the time they got there, all of the students and refugees had been gathered together. McGonagall was halfway through her speech, explaining their method of evacuation. She told them all they had until that evening to pack essentials and go to the Room of Requirement, which would make itself large enough to hold them all.

She then released them all to pack, and the students and refugees who were leaving filed out of the room. Quite a few who were of age stayed behind, and some who weren't.

"No, Colin," Remus was saying. "You and your brother are not of age. Go pack."

Colin looked as though he was plotting some way to stay, but Remus gave him an uncharacteristically stern look.

"My wife is going on the train too," said Remus. "and you both had better be there to protect her if something goes wrong, understand?"

The Creevey brothers nodded and left the hall excitedly, both discussing strategies for protecting the train.

More people were streaming into the Great Hall, gathering around one of the tables to await instructions. Harry spotted Katie Bell, Lee Jordan, and Angelina Johnson sitting together with Fred and George Weasley. Percy, Charlie, Bill and Fleur were nearby talking to Professor Slughorn. Flitwick was talking to Luna, who was on the brink of tears.

"Looks like Luna will be on the train with Ginny." said Hermione. "I feel bad for them, but rules are rules."

"Hermione, what rules have we not broken at Hogwarts?" asked Ron sarcastically. "If it was the three of us, we'd be sneaking off the train."

"True, but I think Ginny and Luna will be able to protect everyone if they're attacked, even if it's unlikely like Slughorn said." said Hermione.

"Ron!" Percy as running over to them. "Harry, Hermione!"

"You're not going to tell us to go on the train, are you?" asked Ron suspiciously.

"Why would I do that?" asked Percy, confused.

"Nevermind."

"Okay… Anyways, McGonagall wants you three at the top of the Astronomy tower with me and Neville. Kingsley will be up there, too." said Percy. "Is that the sword of Gryffindor?"

Harry nodded. "It destroys Horcruxes."

"Oh, alright then. Let's go." Percy said.

At the top of the Astronomy tower, Neville, Kingsley and a third person were already standing guard.

"Wasn't he at Remus and Tonks' wedding?" Percy asked. "What's his name?"

"Isidor Vale." said Harry.

Harry watched Isidor and Neville talking quietly next to one of the turrets.

"We should spread out." said Kingsley. "This is the tallest tower, and we must have eyes in all directions. Any sign of the enemy, and you send a Patronus to McGonagall, understand?"

They followed their orders. Harry took the southwest position. To one side he saw mountains, and to the other was Hogsmeade. There were no candlelights in the little village, although the train was already at the station.

Nothing happened for the longest time. Hours passed and house-elves brought them food. They ate quickly, never leaving their stations.

The sun was high in the sky before they finally saw, across the horizon, a long black line to the south. Using some telescopes from the storage room below, they saw that the line was rows upon rows of people. They weren't close enough to distinguish by name, but Harry thought he could see Voldemort in the very front, the palest of the bunch.

Kingsley sent a Patronus to McGonagall every few minutes with new information, such as how fast they were moving, their numbers, and the werewolves, vampires and giants who had joined the fray.

Each time, they were told to hold their position.

They watched for hours as the army moved closer to the school. There was a strange wave of light above them that enveloped the school in a dome.

"That must be McGonagall adjusting the wards." said Percy. "In order to make them stronger, she's shrunk them so they only cover the castle, rather than all the grounds. But she had to lower the Fidelius Charm to do it, so if they couldn't see us before, they can now."

"But for now, they cannot strike." said Kingsley. He pointed to the ground below, where Dumbledore had landed less than a year ago. Several witches and wizards were casting spells on the wards from the inside. "We are strengthening the barrier."

"It will protect us for a short time." said Isidor. "Long enough for the train to leave, but not forever."

The sun went down and they took turns sleeping. Harry forced himself to close his eyes, hoping beyond hope that nothing happened while he slept.

It seemed only minutes later that Ron was shaking him awake, though he knew from his friend's tired eyes that it had been much longer. He followed Ron to where the group was standing, shivering in the cold. Kingsley was using a telescope, looking very much like a strange pirate with his robes and fez.

"They have stopped." He reported. "I believe they are making camp."

Harry peered through the turret at the huge, immobile army just beyond Hogsmeade. There seemed to be very little movement.

"Making camp? Why?" asked Ron.

"They've been walking all day." said Isidor. "And they don't want to battle us in daylight. They'll have a greater advantage waiting until night returns."

Kingsley sent off another Patronus to report their findings once more and then resumed peering through his telescope.

"This poses a problem, though, for the refugees." said Percy. "The army is too close to the station."

"We will have to begin evacuating when they attack." said Kingsley. "So that their focus is elsewhere."

The sun slowly began to rise, and the true size of the army became clear.

"We don't have that many, do we?" asked Neville.

"No, we don't." said Isidor. "Nor did we last time. He's trying to scare us with numbers, but every witch and wizard on our side is powerful and dedicated to our cause. Half of his followers will abandon him the moment their side seems to be losing."

"You remember the first war?" asked Harry.

"Unfortunately." said Isidor, and Harry couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or truly sad. Maybe it was both.

"What if we attacked them?" Neville suggested. "They wouldn't be expecting it."

"No, they wouldn't." said Percy. "But we would lose our only advantage: the protection of the school. It's true that they are vulnerable out in the open, but we would be, too, if we attacked them now. Our best chance is to wait and stay prepared. We musn't let our guard down."

The hours passed slowly. They ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner, none of them really tasting their food, as they were quite numb from the cold. Hermione conjured up some bluebell flames to keep them warm.

The sun had just reached the horizon when they saw the army begin to move. Harry felt his scar burn as they approached. He turned to Hermione and Ron, the three of them sharing determined looks.


	42. The Battle of Hogwarts

A curse came flying straight at the Astronomy tower. Harry ducked below a turret just before it struck the barrier. Kingsley raised his wand to strengthen it again.

"What was that?" asked Neville.

"The first strike." said Isidor.

"Someone's got good aim!" said Ron. "They almost hit Harry."

"Please, Ron, we don't want to think about it." said Hermione, reciting a few spells to help strengthen the barrier as well.

They were getting closer. Harry scanned the mass for the pale figure of Voldemort with a telescope, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"You see him?" asked Ron, who was sharing Harry's turret.

"No. I don't think he's there." said Harry.

"Maybe he's in the back? Or the middle? The side?" asked Ron.

"Ron, You-Know-Who has too big of an ego to be anywhere but the front." said Hermione. "Harry, you said he's after Dumbledore's wand, right?"

"Yeah, I bet he knew McGonagall would shrink the barriers around the school. It's not covering the tomb."

"But that wand is too powerful! We've got to stop him!" said Ron.

"Go." said Kingsley from behind them. "We have things covered here. Do what you must."

The three of them dashed down the stairs and straight for the doors to the grounds. In the distance, they could hear shouts and screams.

"The barrier is holding for now, but we must be prepared!" They heard Remus shout as they ran out of the school. Remus and several other teachers and students were posted in the courtyard.

"Where are you three going?" Someone shouted, but they didn't stop. They kept running, all the way to the lake. There, they ducked behind a tree a fair distance from the tomb.

"Look!" whispered Hermione. She pointed to a pair of figures making their way to the tomb.

Ron looked through the telescope. "That's him. Blimey! Snape's with him."

A deep anger burned in Harry's stomach.

"Harry, I don't think we can fight both of them." whispered Hermione.

There was a loud crack as Voldemort broke open the tomb.

"Too late anyways." said Ron.

They watched as the Dark Lord withdrew the beautiful wand from the white stone. As he turned to Snape, the dark-haired wizard bowed. Then, they turned and went back towards the forest.

Harry's scar burned and he almost yelled at the pain.

"What is it?" asked Hermione.

"He's happy." growled Harry.

Five minutes later, they were back in the courtyard. Ron was using the telescope.

"There he is." said Ron. "Right at the front."

"He's had his men eating away at the barrier." said Remus. "We can't repair it fast enough. If that wand is really as powerful as the legends…"

"Get ready." said Harry.

A shower of spells and curses rained down upon the school, zooming through the barrier as though it were no longer there. The army roared and streamed towards the school. Death Eaters apparated in, and the battle began.

Curses were flying in every direction. Harry, Ron and Hermione ducked behind a column, which promptly collapsed.

There was a loud explosion as the bridge to the school was blown up, preventing much of the army from entering that way.

"Seamus did good work." said Ron, casting a shield charm just in time to avoid a curse.

They chased after some Death Eaters that entered the school. Hermione managed to knock one out cold and Harry blasted the other out a window on the second floor.

For a moment, they stopped to catch their breath.

"The refugees? Did they make it out?" asked Harry.

Hermione nodded. "I heard someone say all the refugees had cleared out and the train's already gone."

They heard footsteps approaching them, someone running, and raised their wands in the direction of the noise.

"Whoa!" Two people stopped before them, raising their hands and looking very surprised.

"Ginny?" cried Harry and Ron.

"Luna?" cried Hermione.

"You're supposed to be on the train!" Ron shouted.

"You need me." said Ginny fiercely. Luna's expression said the same thing.

"We don't have time to argue." Hermione said. "They need help in the entrance hall."

The others swallowed their arguments and followed Hermione down to the entrance hall, knocking out death eaters who'd snuck past the guard on the way there.

A band of giants had somehow crossed the ravine between the grounds and the castle, and were wreaking havoc on anyone in their way, light or dark. A small army of marble soldiers were marching out of the entrance hall, evidently sent by Professor McGonagall to hold onto the courtyard.

But it was no use, as Voldemort's army pushed the light back in the castle. When the last person was inside, McGonagall magicked the great oak doors shut and she and the other teachers began to fortify the entrance.

McGonagall turned to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Anything I should know, Mr. Potter?" she asked.

"Only that he's got the wand." Harry said.

"I didn't think about that when I minimized the wards." said McGonagall.

"Neither did we." said Hermione.

"Do you three have a plan?"

Harry nodded. "Ron's spotted Nagini using the telescope, in a protective bubble next to You-Know-Who. We think the Sword of Gryffindor will break the bubble, and then we can kill Nagini with it."

McGonagall glanced between them. "And where is the Sword of Gryffindor?"

They exchanged glances.

"I thought you had it." They said at once to each other.

"Harry!"

They turned to see Neville running towards them, followed closely by Isidor.

"Neville, did you see the sword in the Astronomy tower?" asked Harry.

"That's what I was coming to tell you. One of the blasts damaged the tower and the sword fell off. It's outside the castle's wards now."

"What are we going to do?" asked Hermione. "Besides fiendfyre, the basilisk venom in the sword was the only way to kill the last Horcrux."

"That's it!" cried Ron.

At that moment, the doors were blasted open and giants and Death Eaters stormed in. Ron grabbed Hermione and pulled her behind a fallen pillar.

Harry shot a Disarming Spell at Draco Malfoy, who paled as his wand flew into Harry's hand. The wannabe Death Eater ducked into the stairwell to the dungeons.

The two of them returned Harry and Neville, who were battling Dolohov. They incapacitated him and ducked behind the pillar with Ron and Hermione.

"Ron's come up with a brilliant solution. But it may take awhile. Will you be alright?" Hermione said.

"We'll be fine. Go." Harry and Neville covered the other two as they escaped the Entrance Hall. Where they were going, he wasn't sure.

After what felt like hours, Voldemort's voice rang through the halls.

"So many of you stand to oppose me. But you will be destroyed. My army is vast and powerful, far more than your pitiful group of fighters. There is only one thing that can save you now. Surrender, and hand over the Boy Who Lived. Give me Harry Potter, and I will spare you. Give me Harry Potter, or I will kill every last man, woman and child in the castle and on the train. Give me Harry Potter, or meet your doom.

"I order my forces to retreat. Gather your wounded and dead so you can see what you will lose should you refuse. You have one hour to give your answer. One hour…"

With that, the castle was silent. The Death Eaters and giants and other followers of Voldemort slipped out of the castle and were gone within minutes. Harry watched helplessly as bodies were levitated into the Great Hall. He dashed up the stairs in the hopes of finding Ron and Hermione, passing more bodies along the way. His friends were nowhere to be found.

He collapsed as he felt an overpowering emotion that was not his, one of anger and frustration. He was standing in a familiar, dilapidated room, and before him were Bellatrix Lestrange and Severus Snape. Nagini was still in her bubble, floating beside him.

Snape. Harry thought, a hatred rising in him. That, he realized was his own emotion.

Now that he knew where Voldemort was, he found himself heading there. He pulled his Invisibility Cloak over him and slipped out of the castle, past the lake to the Whomping Willow.


	43. Sacrifices

He cast a Silencing Charm on his feet so that they wouldn't hear his approach. Since he was taller now he had to to bend over to fit in the tunnel. As he drew closer to the end, he could hear voices.

"My lord, let me fetch the boy for you." Bellatrix was saying.

"No. He will come." said Voldemort. "Before the hour is up, he will arrive in the Forbidden Forest to find me. Go now, Bellatrix, and gather all of my Death Eaters together so they can witness Potter's surrender and death."

With a cackle, Bellatrix disappeared.

Harry watched as Voldemort's eyes fell upon Snape.

"I have a problem to address, Severus."

"How can I serve you, my Lord?"

"This wand is supposed to be all-powerful." said Voldemort. "But I feel something is limiting it."

"I do not understand, my lord. It seems you are more powerful than ever."

"Do not attempt to flatter me, Severus." said Voldemort. "The rumors behind this wand say that to win its power, you must kill it's last owner."

"Dumbledore is dead, my Lord."

"Not by my hand." said Voldemort. He raised his wand. "To have the true power of the wand, the last owner, you, must die."

"My Lord… please…"

There was a hiss as Voldemort ordered Nagini to strike. Blood splattered everywhere and Snape cried out in agony.

"Come, Nagini, let us go to the forest and wait for the boy."

Harry waited until Voldemort disapparated, leaving Snape there to die, and then he climbed out of the tunnel into the Shrieking Shack. Snape was still hanging onto life, but barely.

He looked surprised to see Harry there, and he raised his wand, but not at Harry.

Harry said nothing as Snape conjured a crystal phial and removed slivers of memories and placed them into the phial. Harry kneeled next to him.

"Take them… Please take them." Snape said. "Look at me."

Harry looked into his eyes.

"You have… her eyes…"

* * *

Harry emerged from the Headmistress' office deep in thought. He'd just watched all of Snape's memories, and they left him feeling conflicted about the man. There was one thing he was sure of, though.

He had to end this war, once and for all. He had to give them all a fighting chance. Underneath the cloak, he passed the Great Hall once more, and saw Ron and Hermione speaking to McGonagall.

"Harry!"

Harry froze as Sirius ran into the Great Hall, past the invisible wizard.

"Minerva, I can't find him! Ron, Hermione, where did he go?"

"We left him with Neville." said Ron.

"I saw him run upstairs after the other side retreated." said Neville. "I thought he was looking for you."

"You don't think he…?" McGonagall didn't finish her sentence.

Sirius' legs collapsed beneath him, and he seemed to be looking down at something. Harry took a few steps into the hall and saw who his godfather was kneeling over. Remus lay there, eyes closed and unmoving. Sirius looked hopeless.

"Remus… Harry… come back… please…"

Harry dragged himself out of the hall. The hour was nearly up. He nearly ran to the edge of the forest. Once he was a good distance in, he pulled off the cloak and pulled out the snitch that Dumbledore had left him.

He touched it to his lips.

_I open at the close._

He took a deep breath.

"I am about to die."

James and Lily Potter followed closely behind Harry as he drew closer to where Voldemort was waiting for him. They'd promised to stay with him, until the very end. Their feet made no noise on the ground, as they weren't really there.

Harry could hear voices up ahead and he turned to his parents.

"We love you, Harry." said Lily.

"More than anything." said James.

Harry nodded, and dropped the Resurrection Stone. The moment it left his hand, his parents disappeared. He pulled the Cloak back on and made his way in the direction of the voices.

* * *

Harry did not move as he felt himself return to the world of the living. After allowing Voldemort to kill him with the Killing Curse, he had found himself in King's Cross Station, where he'd had a long conversation with Dumbledore.

"Be sure he is dead." He heard Voldemort say.

Someone approached him and kneeled down next to him. A moment later a curtain of white blonde hair draped over his face.

"Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?" asked Narcissa Malfoy, in an almost inaudible voice.

"Yes." Harry breathed just as silently.

Narcissa stood. "He is dead!"


	44. The Wand of Destiny

Hagrid had been forced to carry Harry's body back to the castle. As they approached, Harry could see a crowd gathering in the courtyard. Through his barely open eyelids, he couldn't make out who was in the front.

Voldemort forced Hagrid to lay Harry on the ground.

"Harry Potter is dead!" He declared.

"No!" Sirius let out a strangled cry as those behind him screamed and sobbed. Bill Weasley had to hold Sirius back physically as he screamed profanity at the Dark Lord.

"Silence!" Voldemort ordered, and the crowd became silent instantly as he cast a Silencing Charm. "I found Harry Potter as he ran away in the forest. Like the coward he is, he abandoned you all!"

"Liar!" shouted Sirius, the Silencing Charm breaking.

"That's right!" Neville yelled. He was holding the Sorting Hat in one hand. "Harry would never abandon us. He's not like you. He's brave and loyal. And as long as we believe in him, and his cause, he'll never be gone. We'll keep fighting. We'll always keep fighting."

"How touching." Voldemort mocked him. "I will give you all one last chance to join me or be destroyed."

Nobody moved.

"Very well, then I will begin with you." Voldemort raised his wand to Sirius.

Sirius raised his own. When Voldemort fired the first curse, the battle began again. In the chaos, Neville drew Gryffindor's sword from the Sorting Hat and slashed Nagini's head off. Voldemort screamed and aimed a curse at Neville, but it was blocked by Isidor Vale, who joined Sirius and McGonagall in a three-on-one duel with Voldemort.

Harry took the opportunity to throw on his Cloak again.

Nearby, Bellatrix was dueling Ginny, Hermione and Luna all at once.

The two battles were so intense that everyone else on both sides stepped back and watched.

A killing curse flew just past Ginny. Molly Weasley pushed Ginny behind her.

"Not my daughter, you bitch!" She raised her wand and fired off curses at Bellatrix, who cackled for a moment, obviously believing that Molly would be a pushover.

Then, one of Molly's curses struck Bellatrix square in the chest and she froze in horror before her body shattered into dust.

Voldemort screamed again in outrage as his first lieutenant was destroyed. A blast of magic knocked Sirius, Isidor and McGonagall over, but they stood right back up, ready to fight. Harry ripped off his Cloak and stood between him and them.

"Hello, Tom." He said, ignoring his friends and family for the moment.

"Impossible." spat Voldemort, shock evident on his face. "I killed you!"

"No, Tom. You can't kill me." said Harry. "I willingly gave my life to protect everyone. And that made all the difference. They're protected by ancient magic."

"Love? You think love is powerful enough to defeat me?"

"Yes, I do."

Voldemort shot a curse at Harry, which he blocked easily.

"Is that all you've got, Tom? That wand isn't doing you any good, is it?"

"This is the most powerful wand in existence! No other can challenge it!"

"You're right. It is the most powerful wand in existence, in the hands of its true master."

"I am it's true master. I killed Snape, who killed Dumbledore."

"Snape was never the master." said Harry, blocking another curse from Riddle. "Draco disarmed Dumbledore in the Astronomy tower."

"Then I will take care of him." Riddle aimed his wand at Draco, who was standing with his mother.

"It's too late for that, Riddle. Draco was defeated a few hours ago by someone else."

Voldemort scowled at him.

"It does not matter! Die, Harry Potter! Avada Kedavra!" A stream of green light shot towards him.

"Expelliarmus!"

Red light met the green and for a moment they seemed to be evenly matched. Then the red moved forward, towards its target, and overtook the green.

As soon as Harry's spell met the Elder wand, it seemed to recognize its true master and flew from Voldemort's hand. Harry snatched it out of the air and watched as Voldemort's killing curse rebounded on him one last time.

Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality.

Nobody moved for a moment, as though disbelief had frozen them. Then, quite suddenly, cheers and roars broke the silence. Harry was bear-hugged from behind.

"Harry! You're okay! You did it!" Sirius cried, almost refusing to let go as Hermione and Ron approached at breakneck speed to hug him.

Then Ginny, Neville, Luna, were there, the Weasleys, Hagrid, Kingsley, McGonagall and all of the professors. Harry couldn't hear a single word, the shouts and cries deafening him. He was led through the crowd and into the castle. He only realized it was Sirius leading him when they reached the quiet of the Great Hall.

Sirius had him sit down for a moment. Harry was mentally and physically exhausted.

"It's alright, Prongslet. Everything's gonna be okay." Sirius assured him.

Harry was about to agree with him when he remembered something. "No… people still died… Remus-"

"Remus will be fine." Sirius said. He took Harry's hand and led him to a nearby cot. "He's alive. He's just in a curse-induced sleep. Poppy's already given him a potion that is healing him. He'll wake up soon."

"And the people on the train?"

"We received word from Tonks that the train was left alone. Everybody there is safe."

Harry looked around the Great Hall at the people lying there. Madam Pomfrey was moving from one patient to the next. There were seven bodies lying in a row, white sheets covering them.

"Who died?" Harry asked.

"Lavender Brown - she was ravaged by Greyback; and I saw an Auror named Howie Gosling, but I didn't recognize the others." Sirius told him. "Harry , it's not your fault. You were fighting for them and they were fighting for you."

Harry did not answer him. Instead he sat down next to Remus and laid his head on the cot. Sirius sat next to him and massaged his back.

"Rest, Prongslet. You deserve it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end.
> 
> *cough cough*
> 
> Of the Battle of Hogwarts.
> 
> Not the story. Still have several chapters left. No worries.
> 
> Also, I'm sorry if you thought Remus was dead. He's not. But Lav-Lav is. Sorry I'm not sorry.
> 
> Seriously though, battle scenes are very hard to write.


	45. The Days After

The sun rose slowly above Hogwarts. It had been three days since Voldemort's defeat and a lot had happened in the wizarding world.

Immediately after the battle, McGonagall and Moody organized Aurors and other witches and wizards to help in capturing the Death Eaters and others who had fought alongside Voldemort. They were all currently in Ministry holding cells.

The Wizengamot had convened the very day after the battle in an emergency meeting and elected Kingsley Shacklebolt as the Acting Minister for Magic. Kingsley's first order of business was to schedule trials for each and every person in the holding cells before they were taken to Azkaban.

Ten of the injured witches and wizards had been moved to St. Mungo's, while three of them - Remus, Theodore Vale, and Professor Flitwick, remained with Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing.

The Daily Prophet released a special issue on Voldemort's defeat and the end of the second wizarding war. Lee Jordan and Bill Weasley were chosen as the spokespersons for the Order of the Phoenix. Every reporter was denied an interview with the Boy Who Lived.

Harry spent most of his time sleeping and quietly sitting in the hospital wing beside Remus, who had still not awoken. Tonks hardly left Remus' side.

Ron and the Weasleys had gone home. Hermione, along with many other students that had stayed for the battle, boarded the train home when it returned after dropping off the refugees. She'd sent a letter to Harry and Ron telling them she'd made it home and her parents were safe.

Sirius, Nigel, and other Aurors were quite busy tracking down the remaining followers of Voldemort, while the school faculty repaired the damage to the school and grounds, and set wards around the grounds again.

Isidor and Willow Vale stayed with Theodore, whose leg had been hit with a bone-shattering spell. The process of repairing the bone was painful and Harry sympathized, remembering his second year when he'd had to regrow the bones in his arm.

"I'm quite happy to give you a clean bill of health, Mr. Vale." Madam Pomfrey said to Theodore that morning.

"Thank you, Poppy." Theodore pulled on a winter cloak as he prepared to leave. Willow turned to Tonks.

"Dory, you are a lucky girl. Remus saved my life, did you know? He knocked out Dolohov as the bastard was trying to ambush me. He's a strong wizard and he's great with kids. He'll be a great father."

"Thanks, Willow. I'm glad to have him. I only wish he would wake up."

"He will. Like I said, he's strong." After giving their farewells to Harry, Willow and her brothers left the hospital wing.

"Isidor, wait!" Harry called, running after them.

Isidor stopped and motioned for the other two to keep going.

"Harry Potter." said Isidor. "What can I do for you?"

"I just wondered… you got your memory back and everything… so you remember your name?" Harry asked, wondering if it was okay to ask such a personal question.

Isidor smiled. "My life and how I lost my memory are a very long story, but I think you deserve to know a few things about me. I am Isidor Lycoris Potter. My parents were Charlus Potter and Dorea Black. They were killed at the beginning of the first war, and I joined the Order of the Phoenix alongside some of my best friends, Frank Longbottom, and Gideon and Fabian Prewett. I was named godfather to both Neville Longbottom and Nymphadora Tonks. But incredible circumstances led to my memory loss, and I could not fulfill my duties as godfather. I should have been the one to raise Neville, but he has grown into a fine young man even without me."

"But if you were in the Order before, why didn't anyone recognize you?" asked Harry. "The Tonks' named you godfather to their daughter. They should have remembered you, right?"

Isidor laughed. "They did remember Isidor Potter, but they didn't know I was him. My appearance changed when I lost my memory."

Harry studied him for a moment, and realized he looked very much like a Potter. He'd seen much of his family in the Mirror of Erised, standing behind his parents, and Isidor shared several characteristics with them, especially his eyes and facial structure.

"I don't understand. You look like a Potter."

"True, but that's because this is my natural appearance. You see, I was born a Metamorphmagus, like Dora. The circumstances that led to my memory loss also weakened my magical abilities. I could not do this," His dark hair grew longer and turned a light green. "For a very long time."

"Wow! That's incredible. So, they didn't recognize you because you looked different…"

"Indeed. All this time, my friends have thought I was dead. I have reunited with most of them, like the Weasleys' and the Tonks', but Fabian and Gideon…" He looked sad for a moment. "Neville and I are going to visit his parents tomorrow. I'm looking forward to being there for him, as I should have been all this time."

"Well, good luck, Isidor. You can call me Harry, by the way. We're cousins, right?"

"Yes, we are. I will see you again, Harry. Farewell."

Harry watched Isidor walk away.

"Izzy! Good to have you back!" called Sirius as he passed him.

"Thank you, Sirius." said Isidor before he turned and descended a stairwell.

"Did you know he was my cousin?" asked Harry.

"Oh, yeah. He's my cousin, too. His mother was a Black. He and Andy were my two favorite cousins. How's Remus doing?"

"He was still asleep a few minutes ago." said Harry and they went back into the hospital wing.

Just as they entered, Remus moaned. A few moments later his eyes fluttered open and he looked around.

"Dora? Sirius… Harry…" Remus started to sit up and Sirius held him down.

"Not so fast, Moony." said Sirius. "You've been out for three days."

Madam Pomfrey came over and forced Remus to drink several potions and checked him over with several spells before she left them alone.

"What happened?" said Remus. "Is everyone okay?"

"Mostly. We won the battle, and Prongslet defeated Voldemort himself." Sirius summarized. "After he gave us all a heart attack and let us think he was dead. We'll tell you the whole story later."

"There were some casualties." Tonks said. "One of them was a student named Lavender Brown. I thought you should know. She was attacked by Fenrir Greyback."

Remus stared at his hands for a moment. "If we won, what happened to the other side?"

"Well, Bellatrix is dead. Molly killed her." said Sirius.

"Molly Weasley?"

"Yeah, Bellatrix almost killed Ginny."

"Ginny?!"

"She and Luna escaped the train and snuck back into the school. Don't worry, they've already got detention for the rest of the year, although they apparently forgot to schedule Ginny's during Quidditch practices and the games." Harry explained.

"Well, McGonagall's not an idiot. She's not going to sabotage the Gryffindor team for being brave. That's what the Gryffindors do." said Remus.

"We've also captured a lot of the Death Eaters, and the giants returned to their home in the mountains. We caught Greyback, too. Kingsley is probably going to ask you to give testimony at his trial. He's added the attacks from before the wars to the list of charges on him." said Sirius.

"I will gladly do that. That madman needs to be behind bars."

"There're calls to give him the Kiss, actually."

Remus said nothing to that. A house elf had just brought in food for him and he tucked in. Sirius and Harry went to Sirius' quarters, leaving Remus and Tonks to have some much needed alone time.


	46. Silver Bells

Letters were sent home to all the students explaining that Hogwarts would reopen on January 2, exactly a month after the Battle of Hogwarts, as the event was named in the Daily Prophet.

The day after Remus woke up, he was allowed to go home. Sirius, Harry, Remus and Tonks returned to Crystal Cottage in high spirits, not only because the war was over for good, but also because it was Christmas time.

The first snow fell that very evening, and the family went outside for a snowball fight, which was cut short when Remus became short of breath. Sirius led him back inside and they congregated in the sitting room.

"Madam Pomfrey said you shouldn't extend yourself too much for a few days." Tonks said.

"I don't regret the chance to throw a snowball at Sirius' face." said Remus, settling down onto the couch.

For awhile, they sat in companionable silence, until Sirius decided to get up and make lunch. Harry went to help him.

"How are you, Prongslet?" asked Sirius.

"Alright, I suppose. I can't believe it's over."

"Neither can I, but you can certainly feel it at the Ministry. There's a different feeling there. I don't think anyone's felt this free since before the first war." Sirius said.

"Is Kingsley going to run for Minister permanently?"

"Actually, he's going to step down and support someone else."

"Who?"

"Amelia Bones. She's a good candidate. Not easily swayed. Rumor has it she wants Kingsley to be her Deputy. They'd be a formidable force to reform the Ministry."

"I remember her. She was at my trial. Susan Bones is her niece."

"Yeah, she's very fair-minded. Remus told me she was against all of the werewolf legislation that Umbridge pushed through. She's got a long list of things she wants to do."

"Are there any other candidates?"

"Why? Are you thinking of running?" Sirius joked.

"No way." said Harry. "I don't understand politics that well."

"A wizard named Giovanni Whitefield is running. But he's not well-known." said Sirius. "And you'll have to learn politics and quite a few other things about wizard customs. You're the heir to one of the oldest magical Houses in the country, being a Potter and all."

"What? No one ever told me that!" said Harry.

"It didn't seem that important before. We were fighting a war and I didn't want to put too much pressure on you. You've got a seat in the Wizengamot, too. As do I. You're seventeen, so you could take your place at any time."

"Are you going to take yours?" asked Harry.

"Of course. There are so many empty seats right now. They're going to have to start passing them to newer families. I'm going to take up my place as the Head of House Black and put in that the Pettigrew's seat, since their line has ended, should be given to Arthur Weasley in reparation for Pettigrew's actions of sneaking into their family."

"That's a good idea."

"Yeah, the Weasley family hasn't had a seat on the Wizengamot in over two hundred years. It's time they were given the respect they deserve."

"What other seats are empty?"

"Well, the Malfoy's will be until they determine whether Draco Malfoy was responsible for his actions."

"He didn't kill anyone." said Harry. "I don't think he deserves to go to Azkaban."

"Kingsley's asked for a meeting with you. You can tell him that, and I'm sure he'll take your opinion very seriously."

"When does he want to see me?"

"Tomorrow, if possible. You can send him a Patronus message later with your answer. Anyways, some of the seats were from ended lines and Kingsley and Amelia want to give them to Muggleborn and smaller halfblood families, like the Tonks' and Lupins. Some of those seats belonged to the Lestrange, Yaxley, Dolohov, Crouch, Rowle and some other Death Eaters who didn't have children. Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus' brother, has abdicated his seat, and Elphias Doge has resigned. Neither of them had heirs, so their seats will be given to new Houses."

"They don't have any heirs at all?"

"Some of them have distant heirs, but those heirs also have their own seats. Amelia doesn't want any one House to have more than one seat. For example, if I died, and forgot to name my heir in my will, Draco or you would be next in line to inherit my seat, but since you're inheriting the Potter seat and Draco the Malfoy seat, the Ministry would give mine to someone else. They want to balance out the Wizengamot again. It's been held by purebloods for far too long."

"Are you going to have kids, Sirius?" asked Harry, suddenly thinking about Sirius' lack of an heir. "I know you and Nigel can't have biological children, but what about adopting?"

Sirius paused for a moment. "I don't know. I mean, I'm not against it, but I never really thought about it. We were fighting a war back when you were born, and you were the only thing on our minds, all of us. And when I escaped Azkaban and was freed, we were fighting a war again."

"What about Nigel?"

"He's a family man. If I mentioned kids to him he'd be all for it. He'd want to be married first though."

"You can marry more than one person at a time?"

"In the wizarding world, polygamy is legal. Don't worry, Prongslet, I'll let you know if or when Nigel and I decide to take the next big step."

"Thanks."

"Now, go get Remus and Tonks and let them know lunch is ready."

* * *

The next few weeks passed quickly. The Wizengamot accepted the two candidates for Minister and set the general voting day for January 13th, a Friday. It wasn't a lot of time, but everyone wanted to enter the new era and leave behind all of the dark policies and lies.

Harry met with Kingsley and Amelia, and expressed his support for the two of them, but also asked for leniency for Draco. This came as a surprise to both of them but they agreed that Draco had not committed crimes as serious as the other Death Eaters, and was most likely forced to take the Dark Mark. Draco was released the next day, making headline news in the Daily Prophet and accompanied by a short interview with Professor McGonagall.

When asked if she would permit Draco and the other children of the captured Death Eaters to return to Hogwarts in January, she gave them a contemptuous look and said, "Every student will be welcomed back with open arms next month, regardless of who their parents are. Hogwarts is home to all, and no amount of propaganda from your so-called 'prestigious' newspaper will stop them from getting an education. Now, clear off before I have Hagrid release the Thestrals on you."

Sirius took his place on the Wizengamot and began schooling Harry on the proper greetings and subtleties of higher magical society. Harry was rather good at it, and Sirius proudly declared that Lily and James would be beaming if they were here.

Three days before Christmas was the full moon, and Remus's transformation went rather well, since Sirius and Tonks were both good at potion making and made the Wolfsbane Potion for him. Sirius also transformed into Padfoot to make it even easier. Remus emerged from the basement the next day feeling fine, if only a bit sore and sleepy.

They went to Diagon Alley the day before Christmas Eve. Harry marveled at how much it had changed since the last time he'd been there, which had been the summer before his sixth year. It was an even happier atmosphere than his very first trip with Hagrid. There wasn't a lot of snow, since it was in the middle of London, but there were Christmas decorations on every storefront. Laughter filled the air and children ran free in the streets, their parents no longer fearing their safety.

Knockturn Alley, Harry noticed as they passed it, was nearly empty. Nobody wanted to be associated with the Dark Arts right now. When Sirius and Harry entered Gringotts to visit their vaults (and to meet with the Potter and Black family account managers), they were surprised when every Goblin stood up in the chairs and gave Harry a round of applause.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, please come with me." said a goblin Harry recognized as Griphook, who'd brought him to his vault on his first visit to Gringotts.

They followed him to an office, where they met the account managers for their vaults and had a meeting discussing where all of their money was. Sirius quickly used his new title to reinstate Andromeda to the Black family. When they were both satisfied with the organization of their accounts, the two of them retrieved some money from their vaults and headed back out into the Alley.

"That was interesting." said Sirius. "The goblins don't stand and applaud just anyone, you know."

"I figured that out from the shock on everyone's faces." said Harry, remembering the expressions on the witches and wizards who were lined up, waiting to access their vaults, watching the normally cranky looking goblins greet a wizard with respect.

"Well, let's go get some gifts, shall we?" Sirius headed off into the street, Harry following closely behind.

As per usual, everyone they passed stared at them, particularly at Harry, but this didn't bother them at all. He ignored them and went about his shopping.

After they'd bought all the gifts they wanted, Harry and Sirius returned to Crystal Cottage. Remus and Tonks were spending time with Tonks' parents and wouldn't be back until the next day.

They wrapped their gifts and set them under the tree they'd decorated the day before. There were already a couple that Remus and Tonks had placed there.

For Christmas Eve, Harry, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Ron and Ginny met the Grangers at a cinema in London to see The Borrowers. Ron and Ginny thought it was quite ridiculous that the characters on screen could not talk to them but found the premise of the story interesting and funny.

After the movie, they returned to Crystal Cottage, where Hermione and her parents were staying, and Ron and Ginny returned to the Burrow.

The next day, Christmas Day, Harry, Sirius and Tonks were the first ones awake. Sirius began to make breakfast, which surprised Remus when he finally came downstairs, accompanied by the Grangers. Everyone exchanged gifts and ate breakfast before heading back upstairs to prepare for the Christmas party at the Weasleys.

It was noon before they were all ready to go. Sirius took the Grangers through the waterfall to Apparate, while everyone else flooed.

There were hugs and greetings and comments about their thinness awaiting them. The feast seemed bigger than usual and everyone seemed happier. With no war to worry about, conversation turned to other things: Quidditch, the election for the Minister for Magic, the coming reforms of the Ministry, the latest gossip about Celestina Warbeck and the Weird Sisters, Hogwarts and their classes, the House Quidditch Cup, dragons and Egypt (in the cases of Charlie and Bill), babies (in Tonks' and Molly's case), and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes (in the case of the twins, Remus and Sirius.

Bill had a desk job at Gringotts now, and he shed more light on the goblins' greeting of Harry and Sirius.

"The goblins had it just as bad as anyone under Voldemort's rule. You're their hero. I heard they've already started writing you into their history." He told Harry.

Charlie had somehow avoided another haircut from his mother and was now dodging questions about when he was going to get a girlfriend (or boyfriend, as Sirius defended). Harry and Hermione rescued him with questions about dragons and whether there were vampires in Romania (apparently the largest coven, led by Count Dracula, did indeed live in Romania).

Kingsley had rehired Percy as junior assistant to the Minister again, though the spectacled Weasley was not holding it over anyone's heads. He did, however, spend a good hour discussing politics with Sirius and Remus.

Fred and George, of course, had a booming business, though they were low on ideas at the moment. Percy, surprisingly, gave them a few, having gotten them from pranks the twins had played on him in the past.

Ron had officially asked Hermione to the first Hogsmeade weekend in January, which she'd gladly accepted. Harry had asked Ginny as well. She apparently had detention that morning with Luna for sneaking off the Hogwarts Express during the battle, but they decided to spend the afternoon together.

Molly and Fleur were helping Tonks decide on a theme for the nursery. The Grangers suggested Disney, and Tonks, whose father had Disney movies at home, considered Winnie the Pooh for a boy or the Little Mermaid for a girl.

"What in the world is a Pooh?" asked Molly incredulously.

Remus liked the idea of Mickey Mouse for a boy and Minnie Mouse for a girl. He wanted to paint an enchanted mural of Mickey or Minnie and company on the wall. The colors, he said, would be fairly easy as well, red or pink and black. Tonks had to agree, and the conversation turned to baby names.

The afternoon wore on until, finally, the Grangers, Harry, Sirius and Lupins returned home.


	47. First Dates and Second Chances

Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny packed their trunks in a compartment near the Prefects compartment after saying goodbye to their families (although Harry would be seeing Remus and Sirius quite soon). Hermione, Ron and Harry went to their meeting where Harry and Hermione explained the new rule that McGonagall would be instituting this semester.

They left and began their patrols, until lunchtime when they reconvened in their compartment. Luna and Neville had spent their time talking about numerous things, while Ginny had gone around visiting friends and the Quidditch team, as Harry had asked her to inform the team of their first practice this week.

After lunch, the three of them did a few more patrols before returning for a game of Exploding Snap. Several students stopped by asking how they were, and many seemed like they wanted to ask about Voldemort and the Battle of Hogwarts, but Hermione asked them how many detentions they wanted before term even began.

The feast was wonderful and Harry grinned when he saw his godfather and favorite uncle sitting together at the teacher table, talking to each other and the other teachers. Sirius and Remus looked genuinely happy.

After dessert, Headmistress McGonagall stood for her welcoming speech.

"I would like to take this moment to welcome back each and every one of you to Hogwarts. I am pleased to see you all well and healthy. I'm sure you've all been reading the Daily Prophet, and have many questions about recent events, particularly the Battle of Hogwarts that most of you were evacuated from. I will give you some of the facts. On December 2, Hogwarts was attacked by Tom Riddle, otherwise known as Voldemort, and his followers, which included Death Eaters, giants, and others.

"Seven men and women were killed defending the castle. Among them was our own Lavender Brown, of Gryffindor House. A memorial will be held for tomorrow evening. Her parents have already held her funeral. She was killed by Fenrir Greyback.

"The battle raged on for many hours, until Voldemort himself marched into the school. It was in the main courtyard that Harry Potter and Voldemort finally faced off, a battle in which Voldemort was defeated. His body has been laid beside his father. Upon his death, the war was won and many of Voldemort's followers have been captured. They will each receive a fair trial by the Wizengamot. The Ministry is not keen to repeat the mistakes of the past."

She glanced at Sirius, who nodded his agreement.

"Now, as you know, Slytherin House was quite empty last semester. Those students who were not here have now returned, and will receive supplemental materials to catch up on anything they may have missed. You will each be allowed to resume your courses as you would have at the beginning of this year. I am glad to be the first one to welcome you back to Hogwarts.

"Now, there is something I must address with each and every one of you. Any questions about recent events should be directed to myself or your Head of House. Under no circumstances are you to badger any participant about the Battle of Hogwarts. Any person caught asking students who fought in the Battle of Hogwarts about their participation will receive three weeks of detention with me. Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl will also have the power to hand out these detentions. Likewise, bullying of any participants of the Battle will not be tolerated. Should anyone wish to talk about any of the events of the past few years, they are welcome to visit any faculty member."

She paused for a moment, her expression daring anyone to test just how serious she was about the new rule.

"On a brighter note, the Minister for Magic will be elected next Friday. The results will be announced Saturday morning, which is also a Hogsmeade weekend. I have scheduled a Hogsmeade weekend for each month to make up for those we missed last semester.

"The Duelling Tournament will begin the week after next. Anyone who wishes to participate should submit their name to Professor Black. Now, I expect you are all tired and, as you have class in the morning, wish to go to bed. Have a good night and welcome back."

McGonagall finally sat down and allowed the students to make their way up to their dormitories. In the common room, Harry and Ron stayed for a few minutes to ensure all of the students went upstairs to bed. Just as they turned to go up to their own dorm, there was a scream from the girl's side.

Parvati Patil shot back into the common room, eyes full of tears. Hermione and several other girls followed her, all of them trying to calm her down.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Lavender's bed was removed from our dormitory, and it upset Parvati." explained Claire, one of Hermione's roommates. "Her and Lavender's beds were next to each other."

"I'm going to take her to Madam Pomfrey." said Hermione. "She won't get any sleep here. Come on, Parvati."

Parvati left the common room with Hermione, and the other girls went upstairs with one of the female Prefects. Ron and Harry waited for Hermione to return, which she did half an hour later, looking quite solemn.

"It's going to be hard for her, but she'll heal. Madam Pomfrey's given her a Calming Draught and keeping her overnight." Hermione reported, then bade them good night, giving them each a hug.

The following evening was the vigil for Lavender. Parvati was distraught, but made it through the service without the need of a Calming Draught again. She had, Hermione told them, dropped Divination that morning after her first class back, as it didn't feel the same without her best friend.

Harry approached Parvati after the service and gave her a hug. She cried in his shoulder for a minute but then thanked him and went to a quiet place with her sister.

"She needed that." said Ginny from behind him.

"I just wish there was more I could do." said Harry.

"There really isn't. She has to heal on her own. And she doesn't blame you, so you know." said Ginny.

"Thanks." said Harry.

* * *

The following Friday, classes were canceled as most of the professors took turns going to Hogsmeade to vote for the Minister for Magic.

Saturday morning, most of the students were up early in the Great Hall, waiting for the Daily Prophet to arrive. When it did, McGonagall stood up, and the hall fell silent.

"I am pleased to announce that the new Minister for Magic is Amelia Bones, and her Deputy is Kingsley Shacklebolt."

There were cheers and applause as the students celebrated.

"Today is, of course, a Hogsmeade weekend, so most of you can celebrate at the Three Broomsticks. We will have a feast tonight though, so don't drink too much Butterbeer. Be safe, and have fun!" With that, she sat down and struck up conversation with Professor Flitwick.

Harry, Ron and Hermione met Sirius and Remus in the Three Broomsticks. All of them were pleased with the appointment of Amelia Bones and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"The two of them are a formidable force." said Sirius. "Kingsley is set on repealing all of the werewolf legislation that Umbridge pushed through."

"And Amelia wants to reform the entire Ministry, particularly the Wizengamot. It's become too complacent since the war." said Remus.

"They're definitely better than Scrimgeour or Fudge." said Harry.

After talking to Sirius and Remus awhile, Ron and Hermione went off on their first date together, and Harry waited for Ginny at the edge of the village.

"You won't believe what McGonagall had me doing!" said Ginny. "I had to refinish all of the broomsticks in Madam Hooch's flying class! She doesn't have classes until September!"

Harry laughed. "I hope you didn't get any splinters."

"Thankfully, no. But more than one spider fell on my head in the broomshed." Ginny laughed evilly. "I considered catching one and dropping it on Ron's head for kicks… but he's a Prefect and it'd be just like him to give me another detention for it."

Harry agreed, but felt he should at least defend his friend. "At least he gave Colin a detention for bugging you last week."

"True. Nobody's dared to ask me about the battle since then." Ginny tugged Harry into Honeydukes, where they stocked up on candy. Zonko's was still out of business, unfortunately.

Eventually they found themselves sitting outside the post office.

"I hate it both ways." Ginny said suddenly. "I hate talking about everything that's happened, but I also hate not talking about it. It's almost like we're pretending it didn't happen…"

"That's not what McGonagall meant to do. We can talk about it all we want. She just didn't want anyone pestering us." Harry said. "Do you want to go somewhere more private so we can talk?"

"Yeah, how about the Astronomy tower?" said Ginny. "It's as good as new after it exploded and nobody is up there this time of day."

* * *

An hour later, Harry and Ginny were staring out at the view; the mountains, the lake, the village. It was breathtaking.

"Is there where he was standing?" asked Ginny, looking straight down from one of the turrets. "Dumbledore, I mean."

"Yeah, and I was over here," said Harry. "Hidden under the Cloak." He began to point out where Draco and the Death Eaters had been standing at the moment of Dumbledore's death, and explained every detail of the night, from the conversation with Trelawney right after Ginny had gone to warn Ron and Hermione to his skirmish with Snape.

Ginny opened up just as much, giving him more insight on her experiences being possessed by Voldemort.

Then the conversation turned to the Battle of Hogwarts itself. Ginny had apparently witnessed Lavender Brown's death, and felt slightly responsible for not being able to help her.

"I was dueling this Death Eater…" she said with tears in her eyes. "I don't even know who he was, but I was afraid that if I turned away to help her, I'd be killed…"

"It's not your fault, Ginny. You need to know that. Sirius had to say that over and over to me. We did what we could."

"Thanks, Harry." said Ginny. "At least we know they didn't die in vain, right? We won."

"Yeah, and your mum kicked ass."

They both laughed at the memory. Molly had certainly shown just how fierce she could be in that moment. On Christmas, they'd all given a toast to her for her heroism, as the twins bowed before her chanting, "I am not worthy."

Harry told Ginny all about going to the Shrieking Shack and witnessing Snape's death, followed by seeing all his memories, and realizing what he had to do.

"So in the end, Snape really was on our side." she said.

"Yeah, and he loved my mother. After all this time, he still loved her." said Harry.

"That's way more romantic than I ever expected Snape to be. He did all of that, kept up the ruse of being a Death Eater, because he loved Lily Potter and promised to protect her son." said Ginny.

"Always." said Harry, remembering what Snape had said to Dumbledore.

Every day, the school looked forward to the arrival of the Daily Prophet, which seemed to have something new about the reforms in the Ministry.

One morning in February, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Luna, Remus, Tonks, Sirius, Mrs. Weasley, and several others were given invitations to attend a special ceremony at the Ministry of Magic. During the ceremony, Minister Bones awarded them each the Order of Merlin, First Class for their efforts in the Second Wizarding War.

The Death Eater trials were held in the third week of February, and each one was found guilty and sentenced to life in Azkaban, unless they had escaped Azkaban already, in which case they were given the Dementor's Kiss. Lucius Malfoy was the only one that escaped this fate, at Harry's own request. He felt Draco deserved much more than to watch his father's soul be sucked away.

Only a few weeks later, news that the Wizengamot had been reorganized reached the school. Seats that had been empty or held in proxy for years with no heirs were awarded to a variety of Muggleborns and smaller halfblood families. Among these were Remus Lupin, Ted Tonks, Dirk Cresswell, Arthur Weasley, and several Hogwarts students, including Hermione.

Molly Weasley was given the seat her father, Damian Prewett, had held before he and her two brothers had died. She had quickly abdicated, and it had been passed to Bill. Arthur had offered heirship of his seat to Charlie, who'd declined, so Percy was in line to inherit the seat after his father, which meant two seats would carry the Weasley line.

Most of the Hogwarts students were not of age yet, and their seats were held in proxy. The seats that had belonged to Death Eaters were also held in proxy until their heirs became of age.

It was a long process that the Daily Prophet detailed, but it seemed that Minister Bones and Deputy Shacklebolt were making progress.


	48. Teddy and Ramsay

**Lucky Day for the Lupins and Shacklebolts**

_St. Mungo's Hospital had a double celebration today, as it witnessed the birth of not one, but two babies of well-known couples. Earlier this afternoon, Kingsley Shacklebolt, the newly appointed Undersecretary for the Minister of Magic, visited the hospital to welcome the newborn son of his friends and fellow war heroes, Remus and Nymphadora "Tonks" Lupin, both of whom received an Order of Merlin: First Class after the Battle of Hogwarts. The happy couple have named their new bundle of joy Edward Remus Lupin, who, like his mother, is a Metamorphmagus, a wizard who can change his appearance at will. "His hair started changing colors within an hour after he was born." A St. Mungo's Healer reported. "It went from black to blue to pink and it hasn't stopped since!" But that wasn't the end of it for Undersecretary Shacklebolt. Just as he and his wife, Oria, bid farewell to their friends, Oria went into labor. Two hours later, a Healer emerged and announced the birth of Ramsay Shacklebolt. "I have a feeling," the Healer told the Prophet, "that little Edward and Ramsay will be great friends and great wizards. Their fathers are, so it's just to be expected."_

Harry read the article in the Evening Prophet with a smile. He and Sirius were sitting outside the rooms where Tonks and Mrs. Shacklebolt resided at St. Mungo's. The Healers were doing some last checks before allowing visitors in. They'd been there all day, waiting to meet little Teddy and Ramsay.

Finally, Remus came outside to invite them in. Tonks had her own private room. The Shacklebolt's room was right next door. The walls were painted a baby blue, but it was the bundle in Tonks' arms that stood out the most.

"Edward Remus Lupin…" Sirius whispered. "The name of kings, isn't it?"

"He's named after my dad, Sirius. Not some namby-pamby king." said Tonks. "And his nickname will be Teddy."

Harry chuckled. "I like it." He took a closer look at the baby. His eyes were open but unfocused, as though he couldn't quite see just yet. They were a deep blue, surrounded by pale skin and a slightly round face. He was very tiny, and his hair was changing color every minute or so. It went from orange to blue to green.

"Do you want to hold him?" asked Tonks.

Harry felt very nervous, but Remus helped him position his arms to hold the baby, keeping his head steady. Once the baby was in his arms, Harry could see nothing else. It was remarkable, really, how every noise, every movement of his eyes, mouth, hands and feet could hold Harry's attention.

It took him a moment to realize Remus was talking to him.

"W-what?" He asked, not wanting to pry his attention from Teddy.

"I asked…" said Remus, clearing his throat. "Will you be his godfather?"

Harry was dumbstruck. Godfather? Him? He looked at Sirius, who had probably never looked so proud in his entire life.

"Me? But Sirius…"

"I've had a wonderful time being your godfather, pup." said Sirius. "Time to give someone else a chance."

"No, what I mean to say is…" said Harry. "Are you really okay being a grand-godfather? You know, being old?"

If Harry hadn't been holding a baby, Sirius probably would have thrown something at him.

They saw Ramsay next. Unlike Teddy, Ramsay was fast asleep. Both sets of parents were absolutely enraptured by their newborns.

Harry carefully took Ramsay, who was still sleeping, into his arms. As he peered down at him, the baby awoke and began crying.

Unsure of what to do, Harry passed the him back to Kingsley, who checked his diaper.

"It's alright," said Kingsley. "He needs to be changed, that's all."

"Come on, then." said Sirius, taking Harry by the arm and leading him out. "You can learn how to do that later."

Harry waved goodbye to the young couples as they left.


	49. One Last Train Ride

April turned to May and Harry began spending most of his time in the library studying for his N.E.W.T.'s or at Quidditch practice, preparing for the final match against Ravenclaw.

Third and Fourth place had been defined in the first week of May, when Hufflepuff, after losing to Ravenclaw, wiped the floor with Slytherin, in a match that last five minutes exactly. Now it was up to Gryffindor to defeat Ravenclaw, who they were tied with for first place.

Finally, the day of the final Quidditch match came, and Harry led his team onto the pitch. He had given them all a very short speech, quite the opposite of Oliver or Angelina.

"A lot of crazy things have happened this year. Let's not make Ravenclaw winning the Quidditch cup one of them, yeah?"

"Here, here!" cheered Peakes.

"We've got a great team, we've practiced hard, and I know we can do this. We won last year and we can win again."

The whole team cheered at that.

Five hours later, hot and sweaty, Harry landed in the midst of a crowd of people, all cheering. The Ravenclaw team looked rather miffed with their own Seeker.

"Who does Jory think he is? Viktor Krum?" Ginny asked, once they were all back in the locker rooms.

"Isn't this the first game you've played that you haven't caught the Snitch, Harry?" asked Peakes.

"You could've though. Were you feeling charitable or something?" asked Dean.

Ginny laughed. "Just wanted to see the looks on Ravenclaw's faces when they caught the Snitch and still lost."

That was indeed what had happened. Gryffindor was up by two hundred points when Jory Henderson had caught the Snitch for Ravenclaw. The final score was 550-500, to Gryffindor.

"Jory basically handed us the cup." said Dean. "I doubt they'll let him on the team next year."

Harry shrugged. "Come on, they're having a party in the common room. Time for everyone to show some appreciation for you lot."

"Aww, you appreciate us, Harry?" asked Peakes.

"Of course, Jimmy." said Harry. "If it weren't for you, I'd be in the hospital wing every game by a bloody bludger."

* * *

The last week of May found the seventh years in the Great Hall, taking each N.E.W.T. exam, both practical and written. When the test was not for them, they sat in the courtyard, surrounded by books, studying for their next one. Hermione spent more of her time in the Great Hall than anyone else, of course.

"Did you notice one of the examiners is the Vale man?" asked Hermione.

"Isidor? Yeah, he did my practical Transfiguration exam. And is surname is Potter, not Vale." said Harry. "Long story." He said to the interested expressions on his friends' faces."

"Saw him talking to McGonagall earlier. Must be friends or something."

"Or he was McGonagall's student." said Hermione.

Ron gave her a very serious look and said, "Hermione, practically every witch or wizard in Britain today, save my Great-Aunt Muriel, was McGonagall's student."

"She's not that old!" Hermione said, smacking Ron with a book.

Harry just laughed at the two of them.

Ginny joined them a moment later, laying her head in Harry's lap, more likely to annoy Ron than to flirt with Harry.

"What's so funny?"

"Ron's making fun of McGonagall." said Neville, who was reviewing his Defense Against the Dark Arts notes.

"Not a great idea, Ron." Ginny said. "You've got Defense next, right?"

"Yeah, and I was studying," said Harry, "Until you started using my book as a pillow."

Ginny sighed dramatically and sat up, leaning against Harry's shoulder instead. "Like you need to study. Hmph."

* * *

A few agonizing days later, and Harry and his friends were free of classes and exams.

"We're done!" cried Ron, before collapsing on the grass next to their favorite tree. "No more homework… no more detentions…"

"I'm certainly going to miss this place…" said Hermione.

"No more Mrs. Norris… no more Filch…"

"I just don't know what I'll do with myself now. I know I want to join the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I want to help Minister Bones reform the Ministry…"

"No more three-headed dogs… no more spiders in the forest…"

"I just don't think I'll be a high enough official to really have any say, you know?"

"No more exams… no more studying…"

"Well, at least we have one more thing to look forward to. We didn't get to last year, but I saw the notice this morning."

"No more classes… no more essays…"

"I think it's wonderful that Hogwarts is hosting another Games Day, don't you?"

Thankfully, Luna answered her, as Harry was ignoring their ramblings for once. He and Ginny had found a charm the kept a Snitch from flying past a certain height and placed it on the Snitch Dumbledore had left him in his will. Now they were trying to catch it before the other.

Neville was watching them and Harry saw him raise his wand. Just as Harry was about to snatch the snitch out of the air, it shot towards Ginny, who gleefully caught it.

Harry raised an eyebrow at Neville, who was nonchalantly reading a book on Herbology.

* * *

Their trunks were packed. Their goodbyes were said, to friends, to professors, to the castle, to various portraits and ghosts.

Harry knew it would not be the last time he would walk through the halls. It was his first home, after all. The bell on the platform clanged as the last few students boarded.

Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Neville sat down in a compartment together, ready for one more train ride.


	50. 19 Years Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all of you for the support you've given me and my fanfiction and I hope you enjoy the other pieces I am writing to go along with it.

"You first, James." said Harry to his oldest son.

Lily hopped off the front of James' trolley and took her mother's hand.

"I want to go, too, Mum!" said Lily.

"Two more years, dear." Ginny told her daughter as James dashed through the entrance to Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters.

"Ready?" Harry asked Albus, the only one of his children who had inherited his mother's eyes.

"Will you go with me?" asked Albus.

"Through the barrier? Of course."

Harry stood behind his son and took hold of the trolley. Together, they walked through the barrier.

"Teddy!" cried Albus. "What are you doing here?"

Teddy smiled at them. "Seeing off Lyall and Serena. Mum's on duty and Papa's at Hogwarts already."

On cue, Lyall, a seventh year, and Serena, a fifth year, hopped off the train to give their brother one last hug. They stopped to greet Albus and Lily, as well.

"Andy is here, too, somewhere, with Regulus."

"Right here, Ted." said a tall, blonde, and mischievous-looking young woman. Andromeda Black, an Auror in training, was a combination of both her father's, despite being adopted.

"It's Teddy." He corrected her, his hair turning from blue to red in annoyance.

"Reg? You going to come and say hi?"

Regulus Black was also tall and blonde, but more confidant than mischievous, in his seventh year at Hogwarts.

"Andy, don't talk to me like I'm two."

Harry turned away from the arguement that followed, having learned long ago not to get involved when these two were fighting.

"Fancy seeing you here."

But the greeting was not meant for Harry. He looked just in time to see Teddy nearly jump out of his skin as Ramsay Shacklebolt snuck up behind him.

"Ramsay!" Teddy hissed. "Don't do that to me!"

"But it's so much fun!" Ramsay whined playfully.

"Save it for the bedroom, big brother." said fifth year Octavia. She walked away from them to find Serena, her best friend since childhood.

"Where's James?" asked Ginny.

"Knowing him, he's probably already plotting his first pranks with Freddie, Georgie, Roxy and Mary." said Harry. He pointed out Fred and George, who were talking to Percy. Neither of their children were in sight.

Ginny sighed.

"I'll find him for you." said Louis from behind them. "I know which compartment is his favorite."

Louis was a third year Gryffindor, just like James, Fred Jr., George Jr., Roxanne and Maryanne, but he didn't usually hang out with them.

Victoire came around and dragged Lyall off. Most thought the two were dating, but they were really just friends. Best friends.

Finally, James emerged from the train, dragged by Louis to his parents.

"Thank you, Louis." said Ginny, and the strawberry-blonde went off to give Bill and Fleur one more hug goodbye. "James, did you think we'd let you go without a hug?"

James sighed. "Just no kisses, please."

He hugged each of his parents, who refrained from kissing him. Lily, however, purposefully gave him a slobbery kiss.

"Ugh…" James turned to Albus then. "I'll see you on the train, 'kay?"

"Okay…"

Harry could tell his son was still nervous.

Just then, Hermione and Ron appeared, with Rose and Hugo.

Rose Granger-Weasley looked very excited, the exact opposite of Albus.

Harry pulled his son aside and talked to him for a few minutes. At the end, Albus seemed to be feeling a little bit better. As he watched his sons, his godchildren, nieces, nephews and technical godbrother board the train, he couldn't help but smile.

"Don't worry, Lily!" shouted James to his teary-eyed sister. "I'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat!"

Harry's smile faltered. Yes, Albus was definitely his favorite child. And he needed to have talk with Fred and George, Sr.

Again.

* * *

**The Next Generation in A Different Fate**

_~The Weasley Family_

Bill and Fleur: Victoire (seventh year Ravenclaw), Dominique (fifth year Ravenclaw), and Louis (third year Gryffindor)

Charlie: He's a dragon keeper

Percy and Audrey: Molly (fourth year Gryffindor), Lucy (second year Gryffindor)

George and Angelina: Fred, Jr. (third year Gryffindor), Roxanne (third year Gryffindor)

Fred and Katie: George, Jr. (third year Gryffindor), Maryanne (third year Gryffindor)

Ron and Hermione: Rose (first year), Hugo (9 years old)

Harry and Ginny: James Sirius (third year Gryffindor), Albus Severus (first year), Lily (9 years old)

_~The Lupin and Black Families_

Remus and Nymphadora Lupin: Edward "Teddy" Remus (age 19, Gryffindor, Alchemy apprentice), Lyall Andrew (seventh year Hufflepuff), Serena Hope (sixth year Gryffindor)

Nigel and Astrid Wright: twins Evelina and Christina, traveling musicians

Nigel and Sirius Black: adopted children Andromeda Euphemia (age 18, Tutshill Tornadoes Chaser) and Regulus Fleamont (seventh year Ravenclaw) - Andy and Reggie are blood-related siblings, adopted in the year 2003 by Sirius and Nigel

_~Other Families of Importance_

Kingsley and Oria Shacklebolt: Ramsay (age 19, Gringotts Cursebreaker), Octavia (sixth year Ravenclaw)

Rolf and Luna Scamander: Lorcan and Lysander (9 years old)

Dudley and Jocelyn (nee Blake) Dursley: Violet (fourth year Hufflepuff) and Margaret (second year Hufflepuff)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand DONE. Well, technically. There will be outtakes... and a sequel centered around the Next Generation (not telling you WHO in the next gen). Ron's deluminator, however, will be useful in the sequel. I will not, under any circumstances, be following ANY so-called "canon" from Cursed Child, so if that's what you're looking for, sorry I'm not sorry.
> 
> There is also a prequel for Isidor Potter's backstory that I will be posting... soon. 
> 
> Yes, I gave Dudley magical children. Maybe because I'm evil. Maybe because I'm giving him a second chance. I'm honestly not sure yet.

**Author's Note:**

> Hullo, everyone! This is a Sirius Survives story, beginning around the end of Order of the Phoenix. I am a huge Padfoot fan, and I can't bear to kill him off in fanfics. 
> 
> This story is from my fanfiction.net account. It received mostly positive reviews. However, many readers had a problem with the inclusion of LGBTQ characters. Some were very rude about it. I hope the Ao3 community is more open-minded.
> 
> This story has no connections to my other Harry Potter series, Before The Thunder. While there are some similarities, the plots and concepts are very, very different. 
> 
> Special thanks to Leahcar260, my beta reader and author of McGonagall's Girl.


End file.
